Troubled Waters
by webelongtothemaze
Summary: When Rory McKenzie transfers to Goode High from California, he expects to just sweep in and claim the title of captain of the swim team. However there is someone in his way, Percy Jackson. He soon finds that the students at Goode aren't always what they seem, and with a dark power on the rise will this be just another school year for Rory?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: What? Two fic's going on at once? Crazy! And what's more, it's not The Maze Runner! We hope you enjoy this, it's a bit** **different to the others as it is not the maze runner. Percy and Annabeth are main characters in this, do not worry, we just like using a lot of OC's ;) If this is the first time you're reading from us, check out Glader Girls, our first fic which is now finished, and Calypso which is ongoing. Thank you! ~ Emma and Sarah**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything Percy Jackson**

He took a deep breath in. He'd never moved schools, not since pre-school. He'd grown so accustomed to his group of rowdy jocks from LA. New York was a very different city. Not to mention a very different temperature. Wishing he'd worn a long sleeve, he pushed open the car door and headed to the front of the school. He felt like pulling his hood over his messy dark brown hair, but he couldn't let anyone know how scared he was, not if he was going to reclaim his status as captain of the swim team.

Once inside he followed signs to the school office, where he expected some pathetic, nerdy student to be waiting to show him around. When he was called into the Principles office, he couldn't be more surprised by the girl he saw sitting there. She was tall, blonde and it was clear she didn't just sit around all day with a body like that. He guessed she was on the cheerleading squad, but he then found himself asking why she has been chosen to induct him.

"Mr McKenzie, would you please take a seat," the old bat called from behind the desk, her voice thick with a New York accent and a wheeze of a long time smoker. She peered at him over her square glasses that hung on an ancient beaded string looping behind her neck.

He did as he was told, signing the relevant paperwork, nodding when required, as he was given his timetable. She kept commenting how it was 'so unusual to get a transfer student half way through High School'.

Not that he would tell her why, the woman seemed about as sharp as a spoon, why did she need to know?

"Miss Annabeth Chase will be showing you around for the rest of the day," She said raising a shrivelled finger at the beautiful girl to his right, "she transferred here herself last year, didn't you dear,"

"Yes, Miss Albery," the girl said sweetly behind a grimace,

"She settled in nicely with her 4.0 GPA," she said letting out a laugh that came out as a single shouted, "Ha!"

The room went awkwardly silent as the headmistress typed away at a painstakingly slow pace on her computer.

A few minutes later she looked up and almost jumped at the sight of them,

"You're still here?" she cried, "What are you waiting for, you'll miss first period! Go!"

The blonde girl (what was her name again?) stood up and quickly walked out of the room,

"Thank god that's over," she said with a smile that was almost flirty,

"Good, now it's just us," he said letting out his most dazzling smile,

She snorted with laughter, and turned away from him. A challenge. He liked a challenge.

"Well, we better get to class, first up is Mr Matthews and he hates it when students are late, even newbies. It's Rory right?"

"At your service," he said with a smirk.

Maybe new school wouldn't be so bad after all.

The morning's classes were dull, with special thanks to an actual teacher called Dr. Boring. Like seriously, who has a name like that. His English teacher was cool, actual tried to make A Tale of Two Cities seem semi-interesting.

He walked out the classroom and saw the hot blond girl (Annabel was it?) coming towards him. She was eager.

"Lunch?" she asked sweetly,

"My pleasure," he said, throwing his arm around her. She looked at him bewildered and knocked it off her shoulder,

"Okay buddy, take it down a notch,"

"Too forward? My bad, LA must be more different than I thought," he said smoothly. Not a cheerleader then, he thought, too uptight,

"So, I gotta ask, what's the swim team like here,"

"It's actually our top sport, the Goode High Seals are top of the tables, thanks to our captain,"

"Guy must be good then,"

"Yeah he is," she said with a subtle smile,

"When are tryouts?"

"This Thursday,"

"Nice," he said nodding at her,

She led him into the cafeteria and asked him if he wanted to sit with her friends,

"Not like I know anyone else," he said chuckling,

They sat down and he took the moment of silence as a chance to work her out. She was constantly fidgeting and looking around, which was strange,

"Can't sit still?" He asked,

"ADHD, I don't take meds for it,"

"Why not?"

She looked at him with wide eyes, as if she hadn't been expecting that question,

"Why would I take pills that change who I am, besides it can be useful,"

"I'll take your word for it, why did you transfer from San Francisco,"

"Urm, family stuff, I suppose," she said looking a little shifty,

"Have any siblings?"

"Urm, a lot," she said with a laugh,

"How many is a lot?"

"Well I have a few on my mum's side, but two half brother on my dad's,"

"Fair enough, hobbies?"

"I like archery,"

"Boyfriend,"

"Yeah, she does," said a loud voice from behind them. The owner of the voice was tall, but only a bit taller than he was, with black hair and vibrant green eyes,

"Okay, Percy, calm down, you don't have to fight the new kid," the blond girl said rolling her eyes,

"I'm Rory McKenzie" he said defiantly, sticking out his hand,

"Percy Jackson," the boy said shaking it with a firm grip,

Rory looked the guy up and down, noticing an extremely annoying thing about him. The kid was wearing a Goode High Seals sweater, and embroidered on the right below the logo was the little word of 'Captain'.

Shit.

"So you swim," Rory said, careful not to sound intimidated, though the terms of their introduction were less than ideal, he still needed to be on good terms with this kid, "that's cool, same here,"

"Rory was actually looking to try out on Thursday," the blond girl said giving a hard stare to her boyfriend,

"Think you can make the cut," Percy said raising an eyebrow,

"I was the best swimmer in California, I can't be too far off," he said flashing a smile,

"Best in California vs best in New York state, sounds like a challenge," Rory's smile was matched with an equally cocky one from the other boy,

"Sounds like a beauty pageant," the blonde girl said laughing, "Miss California vs Miss New York for the title of Miss Goode High Seal,"

"I'll have you know I'm a fabulous Miss Seal and do not need replacing," Percy smiled playfully turning toward his girlfriend and sitting down, "See you on the stage Miss California,"

"See you there Miss New York."

As soon as he was out of the dining hall he called his dad to let him know he wanted the car to come later than usual. He had to train, he had to make sure he was in top form to show this Percy kid he didn't know who he was messing with. Predictably it wasn't his dad who picked up, but his PA Melissa who sorted it all out. He sometimes thought it be nice to have at least one competent parent, but at least he had her to pick up their slack. It could be worse.

"Have fun training!" she called as he hung up the phone.

"Not bunking off the first day back are you?" a sweet voice came from behind him. He turned to see a girl in a purple and white cheerleading uniform with brown curly hair and the looks of a goddess,

"Not now I've seen your pretty face," he said with a smile,

"I like you," she said cocking her head, "I'm Betty, Betty Gardner, head of the cheer squad,"

"Rory McKenzie, new kid,"

"Thought I hadn't seen you around here before," she smiled brightly and lowered her eyelashes. It wasn't half subtle, but he liked to know a girl's intentions.

"I've got cheer team meeting now, but I'll see you at my party, right?"

"And where might that be, sweetheart," he said leaning toward her.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, sat into her hip and held her hand out for his phone. He placed it in her hand and watched as she created a contact for herself,

"Seven thirty on the dot, be there," she beamed before turning on her heel and walking off, adding, "I put my number in there too, just incase you get lost," over her shoulder.

"Oh, of course," he said, raising the corner of his lips, "see you then,"

"Bye!"

Jeez that girl was loud.

When the school bell sounded at the end of the day he headed straight for the pool. He pushed himself hard, fueled by the anger and anticipation. He had to be the best. He had to. He didn't think he could face his dad if he didn't get onto the team because he'd flirted with the captain's girlfriend! Getting with girls was his favourite thing, but when it got in the way of his swimming? That was the line for him.

When he got out of the pool he was exhausted, he even contemplated skipping Betty's party, but he was the new kid and new kids stopped becoming new kids when they made friends. So far he was on one, and she was obviously the been there done that of the school. He needed to find the group of guys who he knew he would fit right in, every school had them. The Jocks.

He checked his phone when he was back in the changing rooms, six o'clock. He hadn't realised quite how long he'd been in there, but it felt good. He was the last one out.

He took a leisurely shower and got dressed before heading out to find something to eat. With google maps at his aid, he wasn't too worried about getting lost. He'd start wandering over at seven thirty. Didn't want to be the first there.

He rocked up just past eight, which seemed like a good idea as the place was starting to fill up. He wandered through the crowd looking for Betty, hoping she'd save him from being awkward.

"Rory!" he heard her high pitched squeak come from behind him. He swiped his head around and smiled at her,

"Hey Betty, how's it going,"

"All the better now you're here," she winked, "You have to come meet everybody,"

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the crows to wear a bunch of guys in purple varsity jackets were sitting on the sofas watching another do a keg stand. These were his kind of people.

"Everyone," she shouted and most of them looked up, he noted not to get on her bad side, before getting on their good sides, "this is Rory, he's new at Goode,"

"Hey buddy," one of the bigger guys said shaking his hand, "you up for a keg stand?"

"Hell yeah!"

So he did, and he did another. Drank some shots, belted some party anthems, and made his presence known. The guys loved him, he was one of them.

He knew Betty was watching him, but if they were too interested he didn't have as much fun. While scanning the room he caught sight of Jackson and Blondie having a good time, not that he cared much. At one point he saw them exchange panicked looks and ran out the door.

"What was that about?" he asked Betty who he noticed had also seen it,

"What?" she said nonchalantly,

"Nevermind, got any more booze?"

"In the kitchen."

He didn't have to be told twice heading straight for it. When he walked in he saw a girl standing in front of the fridge pulling out a jello shot.

"Hit me up," he told her, though he knew it must have sounded slurred from the way she laughed at him. She told him her name but he didn't remember it. All he remembered was the fact that by the end of the night they were making out on the bench on the balcony and he couldn't give a damn. His first party and it had been a huge success.

Rory McKenzie had arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows, I love hearing what you think of it and am glad you like it! I will be posting regularly on Fridays, sorry for this one being a day late (not the best way to start I know, but I'll endeavour to improve!). Thank you for the support ~ Emma and Sarah**

The hangover he had the next day was killer, but he still made it to class and crawled through the day. At lunch he sat with the guys he'd met the night before, some were from the basketball team others from the swim team, or from any sports team really, as long as they were one of the best. All he'd had to say last night was that he was the best swimmer in California and he was in, though the multiple keg stands helped.

Though he really didn't want to, he knew he had to train tonight. He had two more nights before the trails and had to be on top form. He pushed through the session hating every moment of it.

The next day passed without much consequence, some more flirting from Betty whatever her name was and Jackson practically puffed out his chest every time he walked by. He didn't mind, he had his friends now. He got on well with the captain of the basketball team, a guy name Austin Riley, but everyone just called him Riley. The guy was crazy built and the tallest of them, but he was hilarious. Whilst sitting at lunch, Riley would crack a joke about almost anyone in the room and it would have you in fits of laughter.

"So what do you know about that Jackson Kid?" he asked, stabbing his pasta with a plastic fork,

"Oh that freak?" Riley slumped back in his chair, "kicked out of every school he's been to before this one. I reckon he's got his step-dad pulling strings,"

"Is the guy someone special?"

"Nah, just the english teacher, Mr Blofis,"

"Why'd het get kicked out?" curiosity drove him as much as a need to find a weakness,

"Behavioural issues, hurting other kids, breaking stuff,"

"Huh, better to not get on his bad side then," Rory said with a laugh,

"What, you think I can't take him?" Riley said with a confident grin,

"That's a fight I'd like to see"

"You know I'd win, he's all speed, no real strength,"

"See him fight often then do you?" he said with a laugh,

"No," Riley said, but something about it sounded off, "I mean, you can just tell from that fact I play Basketball, and he swims. Anyway you coming to the game on Friday?"

He didn't like how quickly Riley changed the subject but decided not to press it,

"'Course I am."

Trials swung round before he knew it. He took a moment before heading in, taking in long deep breaths while looking in the mirror. His cool blue eyes held all the anticipation and nerves that came with important events. He'd done state competitions, but this was important. He had to prove himself.

Once he got out there, he completed his usual warm up and got ready to go. His first few heats were easy enough, he beat the others by quite a distance but that was heats. In the second round he was up against some better people, but no one like he was used to at the state competitions, he took it slow, not wanting to waste his energy, but making sure he still had a good lead. Balance was key.

The atmosphere was strange. There was still the wild rush of voices, people moving about to get to their positions, but the voices were shouting to one another, not to the swimmers in the pool, and everyone knew each other. Everyone but Rory, of course.

"Okay boys," the coach said after blowing his whistle, and waving his clipboard around as if to make his gestures even broader, "here is the final. Everyone on the final is in the squad, but we just do this for captain purposes and for fun."

The coach smiled broadly, leaning back, which was not the most pleasant sight, some guys really did let themselves go after a lifetime of exercise.

"So lane one Beasley, lane two Halter, lane three Jackson, lane four McKenzie, lane five Nixon and lane six Wilson, step up to the block boys,"

Great, the lane next to Jackson. Just damn perfect. He took a deep breath in and let the world fade out, this would be it, his chance to show Jackson who's boss. His toes curled over the edge of the block and he lent his weight back into his arms. He focused on his breathing and on that whistle, waiting, waiting, waiting…

A sharp screech came from the whistle and he was off, cutting through the water. He could hear the crowd roaring each time he broke the surface, but took no notice. He schooled his body into perfect strokes, exact movements, precision and power. It was the best he'd ever swum, he thought he might get a new personal best, but he didn't have time to think about that now.

The extra training had really paid off, his heart was beating in his chest and every muscle in his body hurt, he just kept pushing, not paying any attention to what was going on around him, no matter the temptation.

He was close to the wall, he could feel it somehow, he just had to keep pushing, but then he felt something dragging him back, slowing him down. As quickly as it had come, it was gone. It was as if it had just disappeared. When he hit the wall he jerked his head around trying to see what had happened. He sucked in quick breaths as coach read out the times. He was two seconds off his personal best, and five off Jackson. It took everything in him not to punch the edge of the pool.

How the hell could he let that happen. Now Jackson was captain and he didn't even do his best. He knew he could go that fast, he knew he _was_ going that fast. Until he wasn't,

"Congrats on making the team, McKenzie," Jackson's voice drifted over his shoulder, he whipped his head around, "Maybe work on your stamina,"

The smirk on Jackson's face made it so damn punchable. His adrenaline was pumping enough, but something told him getting in a fight with Jackson was a bad idea, and not just because it would make swim practice awkward. So he did what everyone in his family had told him to do, he walked away.

He walked out of the changing rooms, still rubbing his head with a towel. He had been conflicted, wanting to shower and get out as soon as possible to get away from Jackson, but he was in no rush to get to the 'family' dinner his father had told him to be home for. He would skip it, but he needed to be on his dad's good side after not making captain.

He made his way toward the exit of the sports building and saw blondie arguing with someone in hushed tones. As he got closer he saw that, surprise-surprise, it was Jackson himself. He stormed past as quickly as he could, catching a few words.

"That was stupid, immature and reckless,"

"Come on wise girl, he had it coming to him,"

"You think he won't notice?" she said before seeing him walk past.

Their conversation stopped abruptly but he took no notice. He just kept his head down and kept on walking. He let his feet guide him, but something bumped his shoulder, or more someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going," he shouted to the back of her brown haired head.

She didn't even look back.

The dinner table was quiet, not that that was different to normal. Well that was on the rare occasion his Dad was home for dinner. Rory shoveled food into his mouth as quickly as possible so that he could be free of unpleasant company.

"So, Rory," the blonde woman at the table plastered on a fake smile, "your Father tells me you had swim trials today, how did that go?"

She took a sip of her white wine, her hands perfectly manicured matching her perfect dyed hair.

"I made the team," he said quickly, wound tight as a spring,

"But not captain?" his Father's disapproval was not expertly hidden,

"No Dad, not captain,"

"Son-"

"I can't lead people I don't know, I'm new to the team and I'm pretty sure this guy is the best swimmer in America, so no, I'm not captain,"

"Well at least you made the team and that's all that matters," she beamed again awkwardly,

"Jesus, you really don't get it do you," Rory dropped his fork and glared at her,

"Don't talk to your Mom like that," his father snapped,

"She is not my Mom," he shouted back,

"No Rory, you're right," he looked evenly at the boy, "your Mother is drinking herself into her grave on the other side of the country without a care in the world for you, now Linda here-"

"Maybe she wouldn't be an alcoholic if you didn't cheat on her with some bimbo," his voice was quiet and as cold as ice, "Sorry, I mean Linda,"

"Go to your room," how easily his father became bored of him, "now,"

"My pleasure,"

His PS4 was a convenient distraction. Shooting people in the head was a convenient distraction from his anger at his family. All of them. Everyone trying to make him choose a side, he was done with it. With all of them. He couldn't wait till college. Two more years.

There was a loud knock at the door which he chose to ignore, pretending he couldn't hear it. Maybe his dad would go away. The knock came again, louder and longer and he knew the next step would be to take away his best distraction, so he took of the headset and paused the game.

"What?" he said not even bothering to turn around,

He heard a loud sigh as his dad came around between him and the TV.

"You know you can't talk to her like that," he rubbed the bridge of his nose,

"I eat the food she cooks, isn't that enough?" Rory said looking away,

"Why don't you let her drive you to school? Or pick you up, or both?"

"Well I mean it would amount to more contact time than I've ever had with you,"

"Rory," he knew that warning tone, it was the only thing he remembered about his Dad from his childhood,

"Look, I don't want to be here, anymore than you want me to be here. Can we just agree to stay out of each other's way? Like we always have,"

He met his Father's gaze, he had his business face one, he didn't have a parenting face, just a look of weighing up how valuable any more investment of his time would be. Not very, it seemed.

"Fine," his father crossed his arms, "just talk to my PA about cars and sort yourself out,"

"Thank you," Rory said, but there was no warmth in his words,

When he heard the door shut, behind him he threw his headphone back on and kept shooting until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Percy stood in front of a very angry Annabeth. He tried not to smile or laugh at her while she shouted at him, he didn't do it cos she was adorable or anything, quite the reverse. She was terrifying. Something about that always made him laugh, how she could make him more scared than a hoard of a hundred hell hounds. He nervously fidgeted with his pen that he hadn't realised he'd taken out of his pocket. People always complained about his relentless fighting but that was all part of the ADHD. It helped him focus. Not that he wanted to focus on his girlfriend chastising him.

"Jesus, seaweed brain, anyone would think an extra ocean of testosterone is growing!" She hissed angrily,

"I didn't even do anything wrong," he countered, rubbing the back of his neck,

"Nothing wrong? You used your powers in front of everyone!" was he imagining her face going a little red?

"They won't notice, the mist will do it's work, no big deal," he said waving his hand in the air,

"You stopped another student breaking his PB," she said, catching herself as she noticed her voice raising, "yes I was timing from the sides, yes I looked up his PB before hand, and you stopped him getting captain for your own personal gain, you can't do that Percy," she crossed her arms,

"If I didn't know better I'd say you liked him," Percy said narrowing his eyes,

"Oh for Hades sake, don't be ridiculous," she snapped, "you're breaking the rules Percy,"

"Okay, okay, I won't," he said raising his hands in surrender,

"You better not, tampering with humans lives is not part of-" she stopped in her tracks as her eyes drifted over his shoulder. With a glance back to where she looked he saw the one and only Rory McKenzie, hood up and charging for the door.

"Part of what we do," Annabeth finished whacking him on the arm less than softly,

He glanced back at her with a wince, looking back in time to see Rory bump into someone angrily.

"Okay, I get it, no powers at school," he said meeting her eyes. He slid his hand down her arm until his fingers held hers, "Now are we gonna catch that movie or what?"

He showed her his best grin and cracked a smile out of her scowl,

"Fine," she said softening, "but this one better not be awful."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys, thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed last week, I love the feedback good or bad. I had one who had a couple of issues that I am happy to explain. Firstly Annabeth** ** _isn't_** **flirting with Rory, he's just very full of himself and perceives her to be as it's his perspective. On the other part, in the same way Arachne beat Athena in a tapestry weaving contest, hard work and dedication can bring mortals to the same standard as the demigods natural talent, so Rory would have been neck and neck with Percy. If anyone has any other issues, I am happy to reply enjoy knowing what you think. Thanks guys ~ Emma and sarah**

The pool was busy as hell straight after school, so busy in fact that Rory contemplated coming back later, but he wanted to get three hours in; that would take him to six thirty; and Betty Gardner was dragging him to a party at seven thirty, so it had to be now. A shame really as everyone left around five.

He had been coming every day for the past month, first in, last out. Except Thursdays when there was usually someone else, though he never cared to take note who, and Tuesdays was Swim Practice.

The water was warm, as was the humid air that surrounded him. He cut through the water throwing his pain and tension into the depths. He pushed his limits with each passing thought. His mom. His dad.

Jackson. Each one who had fucked him over in the past months or every years.

 _Do you need to see a councillor again?_

That's what his dumb teachers had asked him.

 _You can't stay with her anymore._

Child services, they didn't give a damn about him.

 _Move in with your dad._

The court ruling, how could he fight it?

 _You can call me mom if you like_

Hell he'd burn alive before calling that bitch mom.

 _He has a history of mental health issues, but that's just a child's imagination if you ask me._

His dad. His dad. His dad. Always ignoring him. Always dismissing him. Always pushing him aside.

The voices swam in his head, everyone telling him what he should be, what he should do, how to speak, act, breath, study, live, it was madness and he couldn't take it anymore.

He let out a roar to the empty pool as he stood up in the shallows and brought his first down on the edge of the tiles.

He let his breaths come rapidly, in and out. He leant his full weight on his arms that were braced against the poolside.

When the blazing sounds died out from his ears he noticed a light splashing sound. He wiped his head around to find a girl with brown hair pulled back into a French braid doing light breaststroke up and down the pool. She acted as if she hadn't even noticed he were there. She wore a green bathing suit and he wondered how this girl could so easily slip under the radar in something so bright. As she turned to do the length back he noticed within an instant her eyes. The exact colour of her bathing suit.

"Can I help you," her sharp Brittish accent cut the tight silence. It surprised him so he blinked once, twice, he hadn't even realised he'd been staring for so long. He opened his mouth and nothing come out.

She rolled her eyes subtly but he still noticed, he had to say something.

"You swim as slow as a goldfish," dropped out like an awkwardly weighted pebble that sank to the bottom of the pool slowly and painfully. It was something his old coach used to say to him on bad days. As the words came out he became acutely aware of the stark contrast between her crisp English and his California-Texas drawl that he picked up off his dad and mom respectively,

"And you have a temper as short as a rabbit's tail. Besides, I happen to enjoy the water and see no need to move so fast," she said defensively, continuing to swim with graceful strokes,

"But it's a sport, the aim is to win," he said, becoming unsure of why he was feeling unsure while she radiated confidence. He was in the swim team, she was a nobody, what the hell was going on.

"Correction, _your_ aim is to win, _mine_ is to enjoy the water,"

"What does that even mean?" he asked realising he was doing nothing to rectify the face he was seeming like a stereotypical dumb jock. He didn't even know why he cared.

"It means I'm here for peace, quiet and relaxation, all three of which _you_ are interrupting,"

"Well then I'll be on my way," he said glancing at the clock and realising he was already going to be late. It was almost seven,

"Good," a curt nod,

"Once you tell me your name,"

"And why would I do that?" She said dryly, her strokes never stopping,

"Because I asked," he said hopefully,

"I'm not convinced,"

"Why don't I go first, I'm Ro-"

"Rory McKenzie, I know who you are,"

A smug grin worked its way onto his lips,

"So you know me?"

"Everyone knows you,"

"From being on the team?"

"From being the new kid who joined half way through high school,"

"Right," he said, cos he didn't know what else to say. He tried to look away, walk away, he wasn't sure, his eyes found their way back to her. He was intrigued by her.

She let silence wash over them and left him feeling awkward, despite the fact she was still radiant with self-assurance. He had never met anyone so strange.

"I've got to go," he said catching the clock in his eyeline again, ten past.

"Then go," she said,

"Tell me your name and I'll leave you alone," he tried one more time,

She sighed deeply and didn't meet his eye,

"Emma Turner,"

He liked that, he let the words roll around in his mind as a smile played on his lips. He hauled himself out of the pool.

"Well I'll see you around, Emma Turner,"

"I bloody hope not," she said quietly, but he still heard.

* * *

"Jackson!" Betty Gardner called down the hallway at the tall dark haired boy,

"What?" He threw casually over his shoulder, continuing to walk to his locker,

"Party at Liam's tonight, be there,"

"Seriously?" He relied, "There is a math test to study for,"

"Yes, seriously!" Her shrill voice rang out, "tonight is the night it is going to work between me and Rory, so you cannot let a few pesky little monsters get in my way,"

"Why can't you kill them yourself," he said bored,

"Jackson," he flinched almost trying to cover his ears from the wail of her voice that could match any banshee, "please," she said with artificial sweetness, "or I can ask Daddy to make trouble for Paul,"

"I really hate you, you know that Betty,"

"Yup," she said tossing her hair over her shoulder, "see you at eight,"

She twiddled her fingers in way of waving goodbye and he returned the gesture with a sarcastic smile and a roll of the eyes,

"Maybe I'll just let you see the monsters," he mumbled,

"What was that?" She shrieked,

"Nothing," he said slamming his locker shut and slinging his rucksack over his shoulder,

"Better have been," she smiled in a way that didn't reach her eyes, gods she really was a psychopath. Aphrodite kids.

* * *

Rory Mckenzie. What an arrogant, pigheaded idiot. From the moment Emma had seen him swaggering around the corridor she had hated him. This was one person she would have no qualms in dealing with. He thought himself above them all, hanging around with the detestable Austin Riley.

She could never get close to anyone, because of what might happen to them, but with people like Austin Riley and Rory Mckenzie in the world she didn't much mind being alone. Better to not be close to anyone, less people would get hurt that way.

"You're late," came a sulky voice as he walked out the changing room,

"Sorry, lost track of time," Rory said without sounding sincere,

"Whatever," Betty said flicking her hair (did she have to do that every five minutes?), "We'll just have to tell the driver to step on it,"

He didn't answer and she wrapped her arm around his, practically dragging him along. He wasn't sure why he'd even said yes, he wasn't sure if he had even answered with 'yes' or if she'd even asked. He seemed to remember the conversation being rather short as she caught him in the hallway and demanded he come pick her up, he had said he had to train, trying to say 'I'd rather not' but she either didn't get it or didn't want to and here she was.

He weighed up in his mind how much trouble it would cause him if he got off with someone else tonight, not this crazy chick. She clearly wasn't used to hearing the word 'no'. It wasn't surprising when she had a face like that. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Unfortunately the sound of her voice and the words that came out her mouth put him off.

"So how was your… training," she asked, he had hoped they would just walk in silence. Too much to ask apparently,

"As training always is, tiring," the words had barely gotten out of his mouth before she started to speak again,

"That's cool, bet you have a great physique from it all," she said eyeing his tight fitting shirt, he didn't feel a need to respond.

She rattled on about her day, though he hadn't asked. She told him all about the gossip she'd heard in cheerleading, about who had got off with Riley, who he rejected, how it was a felony to get off with Riley when he was her ex (of course he was).

She told him all about her daddy, a great businessman with financial power over the school. Riley had said he once got a teacher fired because he criticized her awful painting. All this made him like her even less.

He tried to escape her a few times that night, but she always seemed to find him, so he settled for the next best escape route. Getting smashed. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he got that drunk, but then he couldn't remember much when he got drunk. Shot after shot his vision got more hazy and his steps got more out of sync. He stumbled out onto the balcony and wandered around. No one had noticed he'd slipped out. He saw some trees and wondered over to have a look at them. Picking a leaf off the nearest tree, he examined it with a great deal of curiosity. He thought it looked rather like a big green splodge and that made him laugh. Okay, maybe he'd had a _bit_ too much to drink.

He walked further into the man made garden and slumped down in a bench. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting like that looking at the trees when a person rounded the corner. It took him a second to recognize Betty and, in his drunken state, forgot to be withdrawn so as not to lead her on.

"Betty!" he called to her with a broad grin,

"Oh wow, you're pissed," she said with a laugh, he wasn't sure what was happening but next thing he knew she was sitting by him and his arm was around her,

"I've been looking for you," she said smiling,

"I'm sure you have, sweetheart," he said putting a hand against her cheek and drawing her in for a kiss, a distant sober part of his brain asked him what the fuck he was doing.

A sudden screech broke them apart and she was on her feet immediately.

"What's going on?" he asked as the world span, he must have stood up too fast,

"Just sit down Rory," she snapped, and he did as she said, not noticing the tone in her voice. As the music drifted in from the penthouse apartment that belonged to a guy called Lucas? Leo? He couldn't remember. The guitar riff of Mr Brightside hit his ears and he let out a shout,

"I love this song!" he called before starting to sing along,

She said something, but he couldn't hear her over the sound of his own voice, it may have been 'shut up' but there was no way to know, so he kept singing.

Another screech came, louder this time,

"Jackson!" Betty screamed, before bracing her arms as a woman lashed out at her. Rory stopped singing. The world steadied a bit and it almost looked like the woman had… wings…. And was flying. Betty dropped her arm and he could see blood soaking through the sleeve of her pink dress. A flask of metal shined and she was holding a knife, maybe, it looked more like a dagger. Why was she holding a knife. He cowered in the corner, unsure of what to do. He saw another figure run round the corner, tall with dark hair. _Jackson,_ he recognised, with his girlfriend trailing behind him. Jackson pulled out a pen from his pocket, uncapped it and then was holding a damn sword! What a weird dream he was having, he must have passed out on the bench. The fear drained out of him as he realised be must be sleeping. Watching from where he sat on the bench, he was filled with awe at the awesome action in front of him.

"Annabeth," Jackson called out as the winged lady swiped at her, Rory was surprised he remembered her name, must have been in his subconscious somewhere.

Annabeth cried out as a gash formed across her arm and Rory wondered where this dream was coming from, he didn't dream often. Betty slashed at the woman's back with her dagger, but the woman just screeched at her and swiped out, sending Betty sprawling on the floor. The winged woman loomed above Betty hissing at her, but Annabeth was there diving her dagger into its back.

It howled in pain as it turned into dust.

* * *

A final blow and the Harpy was down. All that remained was ashes. Percy wiped his forehead to get rid of the sweat that had been building there.

"A rogue harpy," he said confused,

"Not necessarily rogue," Annabeth corrected, scraping the ichor off her dagger with a leaf,

"You really think-" he started, but was interrupted,

"Guys!" Betty squeaked, and his eyes followed her outstretched hand.

On a bench in full view of them sat Rory McKenzie, staring at them.

"What was that thing," the words came out slurred, and his voice held no fear, only childlike curiosity and awe,

"Can alcohol interfere with the mist?" Betty hissed at them,

"Is it possible he has the sight?" Annabeth added,

"Does it matter!" Percy said running his hand through his hair in a panicked motion. Mortals who got involved with the world of the gods usually ended up worse for wear. Or dead. He lowered his voice, "hopefully he'll blame it on too much to drink,"

Rory seemed unaware that no one answered his question, now lying on the bench laughing at the sky. He started singing and Percy could see why he was a sportsman and not a musician.

"Betty," Percy waved her over, "just make him think it's a dream okay?"

"You do know I don't have charmspeak, right?" She said crossing her arms,

"Yeah, well Drew and Piper aren't around, so you're the best I've got," he said holding back a growl,

"Alright, alright," she said raising her arms in surrender,

She sauntered over to him and pulled him into sitting,

"Rory, sweetie," she said in her singsong voice that rivalled a sirenes, "this is a lovely dream," she pushed his hair out of his eyes, "but it's time to sleep now," she lay him down and his eyes slowly dropped down. Before too long his breathing became steady and he was asleep.

"Percy, if you would do the honors," she gestured toward Rory's body,

Percy threw the other boy over his shoulder, and grunted from the weight,

"Too heavy for you seaweed brain" Annabeth said with a smirk,

"Not at all."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: He guys, sorry this is late, Uni freshers was a lot of fun but meant I didn't have much time. Hope you enjoy this ~ Emma and Sarah**

He woke up to the pounding in his head and the feeling he wasn't sure where he was. When he lifted his eyelids, he was met with light so bright he thought it might burn his retinas. He jerked his head away which only lead to more pounding.

He slowly peeled back his eyes to see that the curtains were intact still covering the windows. Jeez, how much did he have to drink? He looked around the room not recognising anything at all. He groaned at himself, how could he let himself get this out of control. His heart suddenly skipped a beat as panic washed over him. Had he and Betty…. please God no…

A wave of relief cleansed him of his anxiety, he was still fully clothed, leather jacket and all.

"You're up!" said a voice he was all too familiar with. The decibels hurt his ears,

"Can't you be any quieter?" He groaned,

"Sorry," she whispered a smile still broad on her face, "I've got you breakfast,"

She virtually slammed the tray down on his lap, the sudden movement causing his great pain. His fault though, he supposed.

"We're still at Liam's, he let us stay," she said answering his unsaid questions, "How did you sleep?"

"You tell me," he said with a grin that probably looked more like a grimace,

"How much do you remember of last night," she said with an intense look in her eyes. Oh shit. Ah crap,

"Did we…" he said not quite wanting to say it aloud, but they both knew what he meant,

"Oh! No, no, you passed out before it got too late anyway,

A moments pause became an awkward silence. He ran through the last nights events in his head, though it mostly consisted of him doing too many shots too early. He had wandered outside at one point to get away from Betty, but she'd found him. Again. Images flashed in his head of wings and then a woman. A woman attacking Betty. A woman. With Wings. Attacking Betty.

"I'm guessing I passed out on the terrace?" He said, because that had to be a dream. Unless someone slipped him LSD…

"Yeah, why d'you ask?" She said, an off look of curiosity on her face,

"Weird dream," he replied rubbing his eyes, "there were no drugs at the party right?"

"Not that I'm aware of," she giggled, "We've all had weird dreams after a wild night out,"

Well he'd never had that before. He didn't think he could remember a single night out were he remembered the dream the next day. He tried to shake it off, but more flashes just came to him. Jackson stepping in. His girlfriend stabbing it. The woman turned to dust. He picked up his fork and stabbed a piece of bacon.

"It's Saturday isn't it?" He said through a mouthful, and he saw Betty cringe,

"Yes?"

He paused for a moment, but then he remembered-

"Fuck," he said, scoffing some eggs while digging his phone out with the other hand,

"What's wrong?" She said and he wanted to snap that it was none of her business. Good job his mouth was full really.

One in the afternoon. Five missed calls from his dad. Five from his dad was about equal to thirty from most parents. He was supposed to be having lunch with him and his bobble headed wife. He swallowed his mouthful and called back. His dad picked up on the first ring.

"Where the hell are you Rory McKenzie!" Damn he was angry,

"Stayed over at a friends after a party," he replied nonchalantly, despite the fact he had actually planned to attend. Just so his dad would take a step back. He didn't regret missing it though.

"Lunch?" His father demanded, he could almost see the red splotches that would have formed on his cheeks,

"Sorry, slipped my mind. You know how it is, I mean my 16th birthday slipped yours pretty easily, and my 17th," he had to stab the pancake really hard to keep the anger out of his voice,

"I made it up to you," his father just sounded tired,

"Remind me to buy you something expensive when I'm a millionaire to _make it up to you."_

Just like the he hung up.

"Don't get on with your dad?" She made him jump, he'd completely forgotten she was there,

"Nope," he replied, relaxing into the headboard,

"I know the feeling," she said, her usual volume reduced, her voice becoming soft, when he looked over she wasn't looking at him,

"Thanks for breakfast," he said, his usual annoyance was also reduced, "why a banana though?"

"Electrolytes," she said, "good for hangovers,"

The fact that an intelligent word came from her lips surprised him,

"Thanks," he said again, unsure of what else to say when a thought popped into his head, "Is the school pool open today?"

He wanted an excuse to be out of his house,

"Do you ever not train?" She said raising an eyebrow,

"Nope," he said with a weak grin,

She sighed dramatically whipping out her rose gold phone. He heard a few Facebook Messenger noises and then moments later she stuck her phone at him,

' _Jackson, is the school pool open today?' - BETTY_

' _I think this is the first time you've messaged me about something other than saving your ass' - PERCY_

' _Just answer the damn question' - BETTY_

' _Yes. Everyday of the week, no lifeguard out of school hours though. Why?' - PERCY_

"You need Jackson to save your ass?" He said with a smirk,

"Oh," she looked shocked, like she'd slipped up or something, "Urm, with… homework… and stuff,"

"Jackson? Who's worse than you in every class? You don't have to play dumb to get guys Betty," he rolled his eyes setting the tray aside and getting out of bed,

"Plus, he has a girlfriend, and that would be low, even for you," he instantly cringed realising what he just said, the hurt was clean in her eyes, "not what I meant, urm, thanks again for breakfast,"

He practically bolted out of the room, leaving her sitting on the edge of the bed dumbstruck.

He couldn't wait to dive into the pool and let last night and the hangover wash off. It being a Saturday and all he couldn't wait to be alone for once. Completely by himself. Who else would swim on a Saturday? If Jackson was in that fucking pool, he swore to god he would-

That was when he heard it. The sound of rapid strokes through the water. A growl escaped his throat as he marched out of the changing rooms already pissed off, too pissed off to notice that there were no other clothes in the men's.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the slender body gliding through the water. Except she wasn't gliding. She was thrashing. Her speed wasn't bad for her lack of training and experience, but her technique was painful to watch. Her green swimsuit glinted through the waves she created, but he'd known it was her before he'd noticed what she wore. He watched her uneven stroked, how much her body rocked, and how she brought her head out of the water too much for each breath. Her breaststroke had been elegant; her freestyle was just sloppy. She didn't tumble turn when she reached the wall, but put her arm against the wall to go round. Except this time, she didn't, her eyes caught his feet on the tiles and her eyes ran up his body, her face showing obvious distaste for his presence. It made him smile.

"Piss off, McKenzie," she growled, reading herself for the next length,

"Your technique is awful, you know that right," he said slipping into the pool, his face shining with arrogance,

"I said, piss off," she launched herself into another length of fighting the water. He could feel her anger in the water. Like her unrest spread through it.

He knew he should do some lengths of his own but he couldn't take his eyes off her. And teasing her when she hated him so much was always fun. She'd come round to him, eventually.

When she came back he reached out and tugged her leg like they used to do in practice to wind each other up. Her head shot out the water and she rounded on him,

"I don't know what sick part of your head thinks this is funny or entertaining to me, because it's not," she had never looked at him with those intense green eyes before, but he wished he'd never sparked the anger that burned in them, real anger.

"Jeez, chill out," he said raising his hands, unsure of why she was so pissed,

"I'll _chill out_ if you piss off," she snapped at him,

"What put you in such a mood," he sneered,

"None of your damn business," she shouted bringing her hand down on the water creating a disproportionately large splash,

"It is if you're going to be mean about it,"

"Just leave me alone," her voice caught on the words, and he knew he shouldn't press it, but his curiosity got the better of him, coming out as anger,

"Why the hell should I, I have as much right to here as you do, I don't have to put up with your drama,"

"Drama?" she shrieked,

"Jesus, you have issues,"

"Just go away!" She shouted throwing out her arms and suddenly a huge wave water poured over his head. He quickly held his breath, not wanting to suck any in. For a moment he couldn't tell which way was up and which was was down. Despite his best efforts he didn't have enough oxygen. Water started crawling up his nose as he opened his eyes. God knows where his goggles were now. The chlorine stung but he could barely feel it. He saw light and just swam towards it. He broke the surface coughing. What the hell just happened. He looked at her, horror on her face as she stared at her hands. He looked at her with fear. He wasn't sure why. That wasn't her, it couldn't be. That wasn't human.

"What the-" and that's when he noticed. Her hair was, suddenly, perfectly dry.

She pushed through the water to the steps, trying to get away as fast as she could, but he snapped out of his frozen stance,

"Don't you just walk away from me, you freak," he snarled, getting out and grabbing her arm. The impact of his grip made her slip on the wet floor. Wet from the wave she created. She would have fallen onto the tiled floor but his hold was too strong, "What the hell was that,"

"Let go of me!" she shouted, her eyes wide,

"Not until you tell me what's going on,"

"I don't know," she pleaded, fear becoming evident on her face and in her eyes, "Please, I don't know,"

A sob escaped her lips and he noticed the tears that rolled down her cheeks. He loosened his grip,

"Hey, get off her!" a commanding voice shouted from the entrance to the boys changing rooms. Jackson.

But he wasn't even holding her anymore, she moved as fast as the wet floor would allow until she was out of sight. He could still hear her crying.

"Wanna tell me what happened McKenzie," Jackson demanded, "Lovers tiff?"

"What's it to you," he said, his eyes still stuck at wall she vanished behind,

"What's it to me?" Jackson said grabbing his arm, forcing their eyes to meet, "Well I don't want abusive dirt bags on my team, that's what it is. Now I don't know what it meant to be on the team at your last school? But here we don't abuse any status is might give us,"

"You don't even know what you're talking about Jackson," he said, his voice full of contempt,

"Then enlighten me, Mckenzie," Jackson crossed his arms,

"She… she… attacked _me_ ,"

"I find that hard to believe,"

"No, with the water!"

"She splashed you? So you lay your hands on her? No man should ever use his strength against a woman like that," his voice was full of venom,

"No, I don't know how, there was a wave a huge wave, pushing me under and then her hair was dry! She wasn't even wet when I touched her arm, yet she'd been swimming for, for I don't know how long!" the words tumbled out of his mouth sounding as ridiculous as they did in his head, if not more so, "hell why am I telling you this, I sound crazy, even to myself,"

"Yeah you do," but the anger was gone from Jackson's voice, and when Rory looked up he was gone.

He composed himself and then followed Jackson into the changing rooms,

"Not a word about this Jackson, not a word!" he tried to sound forceful but he didn't, he didn't even know if Jackson heard him as he dashed out the door.

Rory sure as hell didn't feel like swimming anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey Everyone! As this is late (Again) I'm just going to say that it's best if you expect it sometime over the weekend, I am super busy with Uni now that it's started, and though I'm loving every second, it doesn't leave me with much time. So in advance, I may not be able to post every single week, though I will try my best to do so. Thanks guys! ~ Emma and Sarah**

His shower took him over an hour, between his mind wandering back to what just happened and chucking bottles of shower gel at the wall. He took some deep breaths trying to calm himself, but as soon as his mind cleared it was filled with images of Jackson, Annabeth and Betty fighting the winged lady, but that was just a dream. That was just a dream. It had to be. None of this was real. He'd wake up, at Liam's house, and find that there had been drugs at the party, with hallucinations. He'd been dumb enough to take one. But as he punched the tiled wall the pain was real, as was the blood that dripped down his knuckles. What was with this place. NYC was meant to be weird, but not this kind of weird. He used to see stuff that wasn't there when he was a kid, imagine monsters under the santa monica pier, but he had been a kid then, he wasn't now. He took some more deep breaths. _This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real._ He thought of how he'd felt the water pull his ankle at trials, that wasn't normal either. He hadn't questioned it but it all stacked up on a big ole pile of crazy that he didn't want to face. _This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real._

He took the long route home, when he finally left. He bought a sandwich for lunch at about four but apart from that he just kept walking. He passed his father's apartment block at least twice but he kept walking, taking random roads. He wanted to get lost. He wanted to get so lost that he couldn't find his way home. He wanted to run away. He wanted the ground to swallow him up. He wanted to get a hold of his mind. He wanted to believe it was all a dream, but he looked at the scabs forming on his knuckles and knew it was all real. Every time he looked down they were there. Starting at him. His mind had snapped; he had gone mad. No, he hadn't, he knew what he had seen. He would go see a therapist the next day, without telling his dad? No he couldn't risk it. Besides, he didn't need one. He wasn't crazy. _I'm not crazy._

He snuck into the house when all the lights were off and headed straight up to bed. It was one in the morning, but as he flopped into bed, having got changed, his eyes wouldn't close. His thoughts wouldn't cease. Monday. He would find her on Monday. Talk to her about it. _I'm not crazy._ He would find Jackson, ask him about Friday night. That was real too. _I'm not crazy._ Betty, it made more sense now. She needed Jackson to fight off things like the winged woman for her. _I'm not crazy._ The swim trials. Emma wasn't at swim trials; it couldn't have been her. Jackson? He was there both times. SO maybe it wasn't Emma, maybe it was Jackson. _I'm not crazy._

It must have been five? Six? By the time he finally drifted off to sleep. A nightmare started to play in his mind's eye of monsters from his childhood, the winged woman he saw them fighting and of himself, drawing. He felt the pressure on his lungs, the fear in his heart and the pain in his chest. All of it threatening to kill him. He cried out and woke up so drenched in sweat that he might as well have been sinking in the school pool.

He couldn't get those green eyes out of his head. Her green eyes. The pain and fear when he'd called her a freak. He'd never regretted a name more in his life, god knew he threw them around enough for that to mean something. More than anything he wanted to run to her and tell her he was sorry for what he said.

Monday. That's what he had to keep telling himself. Monday and he would be able to figure this all out.

Percy ran out of the changing rooms having thrown on his clothes as quickly as demi-godly possible. He dug in his bag for Riptide as he ran, whatever she was it would be good to be prepared. _There was a huge wave. Her hair was dry._ She had to be some kind of monster. Annabeth would know. A monster who shared his powers. He turned the corner and saw her at the end,

"Hey!" he shouted, but she kept on walking, hood up eyes on the ground, he knew it was her though.

He chased her at full speed and on hearing him approach started to run herself. She didn't have his training or fitness though. Within seconds he has her arm in his hand, stopping her from running. Before too long riptide was at her throat. At least the corridor was empty.

"Start explaining?" he demanded,

Her eyes were wide and glued to the sword.

"What do you mean," she whimpered in a British accent,

"You know what I mean," he said pressing the sword into the skin on her neck. It didn't go right through so she definitely wasn't human. At the sound of the rage in his voice she looked up. Terror lined her bright green eyes. Green. Green like his. It was as if they were a mirror to his own. That was impossible. Firstly, this girl was, what 17? She couldn't have survived without camp. He hadn't realised but he'd lost his focus and the sword was slack in his hand, but she had.

She quickly raised her knee into his balls, then brought his head down onto it too. She kicked the sword out of his hand. Next thing he knew he was the one up against the wall with a knife at his throat. Where the hell did she get a knife from?

"Who are you?" she was in control now. The timid whimpering girl all gone, replaced with one of fire,

"Percy Jackson," he said, though it sounded strange due to the blood running from his nose,

"I know that! Are you working for him? Did he send you?"

"He?"

"Bahram! Did he send you,"

"Bahram? The monster?" his confusion only grew, how did she know about Bahram? Chiron had told him and Annabeth about it before they had left camp for the school year. He rose once before, in ancient greece, defeated by a demi-god called Tacitus. All records had been lost of Tacitus and Bahram, as Tacitus died of his battle wounds and no one was around to tell the tale. Hephaestus had warned Chiron earlier in the year, but he had thought nothing of it. Until demigods started getting dreams. At first it was just Annabeth, and it was just one dream in July. He told her if she helped him he would give her all she desired. When she said no he threatened to kill her and all those she loved. As you can't do that through dreams, she said no again. Since then they'd had more frequent monster attacks, so much so Betty Gardner has started inviting him to parties just to keep watch for them. Any demi-god who refused him would get attack after attack, like the Harpy on friday. No one knew quite what he wanted, but maybe this girl had the answers.

"So you know him," she said pressing her dagger so it bit the skin on his neck,

"No, I don't know him, we don't play cards on the weekend or anything,"

She pushed harder, she clearly didn't like his sarcasm, but he was buying time to work out what she was. On the one hand, she was just like him, powers, eyes and all. On the other hand she'd never been to camp and knew how to fight pretty damn well, "but I know _of_ him,"

"Did. He. Send. You," she hissed through clenched teeth,

"No, we're the ones trying to stop him," he heard Annabeth's voice but couldn't see her, he really loved that hat sometimes,

Annabeth made quick work of disarming the girl, and while she was confused he grabbed her wrists and put her back against the wall.

"Just so you know, I totally had that covered," he tossed over his shoulder at her as she removed her baseball cap,

"Sure you did, seaweed brain," Annabeth said rolling her eyes, "care to share what's going on?"

"Why don't you tell her," he said to the girl,

"I lost control, okay!" she shouted, "you have no idea what it's like,"

"To not understand your powers or how to use them? Yeah I do," Percy said back,

"Then why are you hunting me?" she asked, confusion joining the fear in her eyes,

"Hunting you?" Annabeth said from behind him, "Why would you think we're hunting you,"

Percy looked at her carefully, taking in the fact she still looked like a human, fought like a human, maybe with some extra good reflexes. Maybe he had to trust that she might be… like him,

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it was the sword that found it's way _to my neck!"_ jesus christ, her sarcasm could match his,

"Okay, you could have been a monster for all we knew," he said in defence,

"Percy we don't know that she's not,"

"You think I'm one of them?" the girl said in shock,

"We don't have any reason to believe you're not, you attacked Percy," Annabeth said,

"In self defence!" she said raising her voice, "he attacked me first, how do I know _you_ aren't monsters,"

"You're just gonna have to trust us," Annabeth said,

"Then I guess you'll have to do the same with me," she replied, "my arms please, Jackson,"

Reluctantly, he let go, but never let his eyes drop from her as he retrieved his sword.

"And my knife please," she held her hand out, but Annabeth didn't budge,

"What's your name," Annabeth said skeptically,

"I'm in your English class!" she said narrowing her eyes before letting them roll, "It's Emma, Emma Turner,"

"Where did you get this Emma, this is celestial Bronze," Annabeth weighed the dagger in her hands,

"Does it matter, I won't make it home without that thing,"

"Just tell us where you got it," Percy said, crossing his arms. If she _can't_ leave without the dagger, she won't. It presented a good opportunity to get some answers. Though he was sure Annabeth had realised that about five minutes ago.

"It was my Mum's," she said, like that was answer enough. When silence followed she sighed and continued, "she kept it on display. She used to tell me stories about how it was a special dagger for killing monsters. When I was ten they started coming for me, in my own home. I ran and got the dagger and the thing turned to dust. I've carried it with me ever since,"

"It's pretty," Annabeth said, Percy could see even from where he stood on the other side of Emma that it was decorated with engraved waves and sea shells. It would made sense if she was a demi-god, everything she said, everything she did. There was one good way to check if Rory had been telling the truth though. As the girls spoke Percy reached subtly into his satchel.

"And it's mine," Emma said forcefully,

"We can help you, you know," Annabeth said,

"I don't want your help,"

He unscrewed the cap,

"How do you know how to fight?" Annabeth pressed, having taken note of what Percy was doing,

"My mum was paranoid, made me take self defence classes from the age of five back in England, I guess either they came in useful or she wasn't paranoid,"

"Where is your Mum?"

The words left Annabeth's mouth as Percy shouted, "Emma!" and threw the contents of the water bottle at her. She raised her hand and in one sweeping motion the water stopped mid air, forming a perfect circle. As her arm dropped, so did the water.

"What the fuck?" she said staring at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the green trident that glowed above her head.

"What in Hades?" Annabeth said in a low voice,

Percy couldn't quite believe his eyes. All the signs pointed toward it, but his dad had said….

"What the hell is that?" Emma said following their eyes, she jumped away from it stumbling into Percy,

"That's Poseidon claiming you," he explained and she looked at him, eyes wide with a mix of emotions, "Hey there, little sis."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys, hope you've all had a good week. This is the last of my pre-writtern stuff, so I cant guarantee anything with Uni being so full on (I do Engineering so I have many contact hours). However, I will try my best. Hope you enjoy! ~ Emma and Sarah**

When Monday finally came around he couldn't see her anywhere. It's not like they shared any classes, but he had to find her. He searched before school for as long as he could and then during the ten minute break between class. No where. It was driving him crazy. I am not crazy. He was running on caffeine and that alone, maybe five hours sleep over the whole weekend. His dad hadn't even asked why he's spent every daylight hour on the streets of New York hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would see her. He didn't. He didn't even catch a glimpse of her light brown hair until lunch. As soon as he shouted her name she was gone.

"Who were you shouting at," came the familiar voice of Austin Riley, who was surprisingly alone,

"This girl, we swim… at the same time," he said, fumbling over his words, "I shouted at her, now she's ignoring me,"

That was the best summary he could give without sounding insane,

"Got it bad for this one then," Riley said with a wink,

"No, it's not like that, she's cool," he said,

"Who is it?"

"Emma Turner?" Rory said, as Riley surely had no idea who she was. No one seemed to,

"Oh her," he said, with a look flashing in his eyes that Rory couldn't quite decipher, "She's a weird one,"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she moved here when she was eleven and we were good friends, she shut me off after a while. No reason, just didn't want to hang out anymore, with anyone,"

"Have you noticed anything strange about her?" he pressed,

"You mean aside from the fact she's socially inept?" Riley laughed but Rory wasn't in the mood,

"Dude, seriously,"

"I don't know man, I'd put it down to the fact she a social recluse, lives on her own and everything,"

"What? No parents?"

"Her stepdad had to go back to England for work a couple of years back, they moved for her Mom to have the best Parkinson's Disease care home in the world. She didn't want to be too far,"

"Shit,"

"Yeah, not sure the authorities would be alright with that, but I'm not sure how many people know, so keep it on the downlow,"

"Sure,"

A moments silence followed. How do you respond to that. There he was being a dick when she practically had the world on her shoulders. He had to talk to her, apologise. She wouldn't even look at him.

"You still care about her?" Rory asked carefully,

"I don't know, figured someone's got to watch out for her, even if she won't talk to me,"

So that's how she avoided being a target, he thought.

"Do you happen to know what her last class is?"

"As a matter of fact she's got Calculus with me in R14,"

"You, Austen Riley, are brilliant,"

"I know," the other boy said with a laugh and an arrogant smile, "Have you eaten?"

Rory paused for a minute, but his hunger got the better of him,

"I'm starving."

They sat with the guys, they laughed and joked, and for a moment he forget the craziness that was going on around him. But each time he let his thoughts go blank the memory of Saturday saturated his mind like a white sheet dropped in a pool of ink. It was always there, a stain on his image of the world he thought he knew. He allowed himself to be at ease, or at least as much as he could continuously permit. In the same rhythm he had been repeating 'Monday' over in his head all weekend, now rang 'soon'. The time was set and the time would come.

He tried his best to concentrate in his classes, but instead found his hand doodling on the page in an agitated manner.

When his English teacher called for the end of class five minutes early, as they had conveniently reached the end of a chapter, he couldn't have been happier. He packed up his stuff in one swift movement and practically ran out of the room shouting, "you're the best Mr. Bloffis!"

He bolted through the empty hallways counting the numbers on the doors,

"R8….R10...R12….R14!" he had to hold back from shouting with excitement and anticipation. He flipped his phone out of his back pocket. Two minutes left. Two long minutes that held a thousand moments and a million emotions. He contemplated playing on his phone, but decided he better figure out how to start. He had thought over the words he would say to her more times than he could remember, but now he found they were either insufficient or gone. He searched for them but he couldn't find them. He figured apologising would be a good place to start, but beyond that what could he say? 'Oh, sorry I called you a freak, but how the frick did you do that?', not the most eloquent way of putting it.

The bell rung and he knew he was out of time. He took a few strides back from the door, as he realised he would block the flow of students leaving the room, and didn't want to stand out as the creepy new kid.

The first familiar face he saw way Riley, who winked and gave him and fist bump,

"Good luck, bro, you'll need it," and with a laugh, he was gone.

Soon enough, with her head down, eyes on the floor, she came out. She was the last one. He reached out and took her arm with a flash of de ja vu. He'd done this last time they met, but his grip was soft, not forced.

"We need to talk," he whispered under his breath so only she could hear him,

"No we don't Mckenzie," she said wrenching her arm away, "We've nothing to talk about,"

"What?" he hissed, but she was already walking away, "of course we do!"

He strode after her furiously,

"Look, I'm sorry alright, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry I called you a…" he let loose a breath, not wanting to say the word again, it seemed poisoned and impossible to touch, "and I'm sorry I pushed you. I didn't have any right to make you mad when you were clearly upset,"

He glanced at her side on hoping to see a reaction of some sort, a reply even, but her steely gaze was held away from him. She didn't say a word.

"What happened on Saturday..." he said his voice becoming low and soft. Last thing he wanted was for her to thing was mocking her, "Was that you or Jackson,"

"What are you on about McKenzie?" she turned to look at him with a look so full of spite he felt embarrassed,

"The water-" he stammered,

"I was pissed and you pushed me,"

"I know, I'm-"

"So I got out and you grabbed me," but that wasn't what happened, was it?

"There was a wave," he said but his resolve was gone,

"What does that have to do with Jackson,"

He was speechless for a moment. Had she not seen it? It was there he knew it was there. I'm not crazy. The world seemed to slow down. A sickness crept into his stomach like a beast come out of hiding. His heart was in his throat, blocking all words from escape, but the images were there. In his mind. He saw the wave. He saw the winged woman. He saw it all. No one would tell him he was crazy again. Not like before.

"The water moved, and not in the way it should," she rolled her eyes and started to walk away, "You know what I'm talking about Emma!"

He grew desperate, he ran after her,

"Please, just talk to me,"

"And why would I talk to a crazy person!"

"I'm not crazy, don't call me crazy," he held his hands to his head, how could this be happening again, "Just shut up!"

"Happily," she snapped, her footsteps quickening into a run. He wanted to run after her, make her talk to him, but his heart was pounding too fast, his breath coming too quick. The empty corridor began to spin. He tried to take deep breaths, but he couldn't. He vaguely made out the words 'Boys Locker Room' and dived in.

Alone, he fell to the floor sucking in as much as as would fill his lungs. He felt his eyes sting and his throat burn. Faintly, he felt his cheeks turn damp and his breaths turn steady.

An hour later he emerged, thanking whatever was up there for the absence of practice on Mondays. He went straight home. He locked his door. He studied the ceiling. He turned on his Xbox. He was too tired to play. He didn't eat dinner. He didn't sleep much either. He just lay on his bed watching the world go by. He started to think the very words he used to stop himself sinking into insanity would be the very ones to drive him there. I'm not crazy. He walked to his desk. He took out pen and paper and ink began to form the winged woman. Or at least he tried to. It had been a while since his art teacher has praised his work. He had always chosen sports, because that's what his dad wanted. He drew her once and, dissatisfied, tossed her into the trash. He drew her again, but the wings were not right. He stayed up all night drawing her over and over until he saw a reflection of his memory.

It occurred to him that he might do well to search online 'winged woman' and see if he got anything. A few drawings showed, none matching his, all looking very normal and nothing like the creature he saw. The search bar suggested 'Winged Woman Mythology' and good old Wikipedia loaded a page titled 'Hybrid Creatures in Mythology'. He was really losing it now, he thought, he was looking on a Greek mythology page. As he scrolled through the 'partly human' part showed a very well divided list of creatures, with upper half human, human headed, and animal headed. He shook his head not sure what he was getting himself into, but he knew there was no point in turning back.

Soon enough he found what he was looking for.

'Harpy - A half-bird, half-woman creature of Greek mythology, portrayed sometimes as a woman with bird legs'

Could that really be it? He searched the name and it came back with some pretty weird and terrifying stuff, but he knew that it must have been that. How the hell could that have been a dream? he'd never seen anything like it! But how could it be real? The pictures on the Internet mathed his sketch so well. He spent the rest of the evening pouring over the internet, trying to find out more.

"So she's your sister," Annabeth said, flopping back on his twin size bed once he closed the door. She came over so often on Saturday's that his Mom didn't mind anymore.

"It would seem so," he said, leaning against the desk, "and what's more Rory saw her use her powers on him,"

"Which means he felt the water tugging at his ankle…"

"Which means somewhere deep down he knows that last night was not a dream," Percy finished,

"So does he have the sight, or is he a demi-god?"

"How can we know without threatening him with celestial bronze and potentially injuring him,"

"He's a bit old to not be claimed yet, the gods have been pretty good with claiming since the Titan War,"

"But even my good for nothing Dad," he said raising his voice as though Poseidon might just hear him down here, "Forgot the odd one,"

"He couldn't survive this long, surely,"

"Emma did,"

"Emma's a special case,"

"She's a child of the big three,"

"Why did we let her go home alone again?"

"Cos she's made it every day before this," Percy said, not quite convinced,

"Who's kid do you think he is?" Annabeth asked, propping herself up,

"I don't know anything about the guy, aside from the fact he likes swimming and has a temper," He realised he might need to do some research into Rory McKenzie, "Ares maybe? He's not too good at claiming his children,"

"Aphrodite?"

"Are you kidding me?" Percy said, his eyes almost popping out of his head,

"What? He's not that hard on the eyes," her teasing grin spread across her face,

"Why don't you rethink that statement, Wise Girl," he said mockingly, crossing the short distance between them and kissing her waiting lips.

"Definitely the ugliest god then," she said with a smile that he couldn't help but kiss again and again.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So I managed to find time this week! I will try my best next week, but I have a test on Tuesday and coursework due Thursday. So, again, no promises. Hope you enjoy this update, thanks for the continued support ~ Emma and Sarah**

The first thing that hit her was the smell. Emma stood in a damp cave, the walls dripping with some form of slime. It was so dark she could hardly see a thing as she took a step forward, making no noise. She couldn't think how she got there, but it didn't seem to matter. She could hardly see a thing. She reached instinctively for her dagger but it was not there. She stayed quiet and surveyed the cave to no avail, her ears pricking at the sound of the dripping water. In the distance he could hear a gushing river.

 _Emma_

The whisper caught her off guard and she whipped her head around once, twice, sending her hair flying into her face. She smoothed it back and tied it with the hairband on her wrist. She waited.

 _Emma_

The voice was louder this time, though strained. It felt so old... so lonely. It filled her with fear though she wasn't sure why,

 _Emma, I know you're there_

"Who are you?" she said her voice trembling in the cold,

 _I am your friend_

The icy lick of his words shocked her into focus. It was a dream. Every time it started off the same. Every time she felt scared and confused and couldn't tell why.

"Bahram," she said a tiredness in her voice. A cold laugh followed.

 _So you're getting better at this little game of ours,_

"This isn't _our_ game," she spat,

 _Ah, but it is a game. These are the rules see, either you serve me or I keep sending monsters. Empousa, Hellhounds, Myrmekes, I'm getting stronger by the day, I have all sorts of creatures on my side ready to kill you. How do you think you'd fare against a manticore?_

"I can hold my own," she said in a hard tone.

 _One of these day's you won't be able to escape_

Her hands shot to her throat as all the air in the world was taken away. The cool calm of the voice was gone, replaced with a poisonous hiss,

 _And you'll see how little mercy I give to those who are not loyal to me._

It took every bit of strength in her not to snap at every voice that touched her ears that day. Emma was used to carrying around a cold constant bitterness a lot in life, so often coming out in sarcastic remarks and contemptuous looks shot across classrooms. What she had felt, since Jackson followed her out of the pool, was a few degrees closer to anger. She found her hate for the world and everything in it reignited. She had got used to the increasing attacks and horrible nightmares, but every time Percy surveyed her with that protective look she wanted to scream. She did not need protecting. She needed to calm down. She needed to swim. Thanks to Rory McKenzie that was no longer an option. She was bursting with bad emotions that she could not free. She had no friends, she had made sure of that. No one she could go to, talk to. She pushed them all away for fear of hurting them. She should jump at the chance to finally have people like her, people she didn't have to push away or run from. Some family.

As she looked around the quad she found her gaze drifting to Austin, or Riley as he was now called. She wished she could have talked to him. Not the arrogant jock he paraded around the school as, but the boy she used to know, who loved football but also loved coming over when her mum baked cookies. He looked up and she quickly looked back down to her book. With her mind elsewhere she found it hard to keep the lines from blurring together and found herself reading the same line three times. She cursed her dyslexia and put the book down, just as Austin took the seat across from her. She found her mouth running dry of sarcasm due to the surprise she felt.

"Austin?" she said, eyes wide, feeling stupid,

"I know you told me never to talk to you again," his eyes never met hers as he spoke, the words coming quickly, "but that was years ago and I need to talk to you,"

Fear crept into her veins. She remembered that night all too well.

They had been thirteen, in middle school, her mum needed care but it wasn't so bad. She could still look after Emma just fine.

The two children had been walking home from school that day when a hellhound had started to growl at her. She had fought monsters before, but they had always found her alone. She tried to tell herself it was just a rather odd dog, but then it attacked her. Austin thought it was just a dog, tried to tackle it off her. Almost got his arm bitten off in the process. She killed it in front of his eyes. He thought she had just stabbed a rabid dog.

He was shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

"Did you just… did you just kill that thing?"

She didn't respond, wiping the ichor off her dagger.

"And why do you have a dagger? What's wrong with you?"

She hadn't known what to say, how to deal with it,

"Clearly more than you can handle," she snapped,

"It's not my fault you're a freak!"

"Well then don't be my friend, Austin! Don't talk to me, don't look at me and don't come near me!"

"What are you gonna do? Stab me like you did that dog?" his voice lashed back at her, each of his words leaving scars that would never truly heal,

"Maybe I will," she said, her eyes welling up with tears of anger as she stuffed the dagger into her rucksack and ran home, never looking back.

"What about?" she said, snapping out of the memory and keeping her voice nonchalant, "and if you say the chemistry homework, I swear to god-"

"It's not about school, Em. I… I had this dream,"

Her blood ran cold as one word, or name rather, filled her head.

"I'm not your therapist Austin," she said, trying to shake off the thought, it couldn't be what she thought, it wouldn't be,

"Please, Em?" his cool blue eyes finally met hers, "just hear me out,"

She looked at his blankly, but nodded,

"I was in this cave and this voice started calling my name," with each word it felt like her stomach drop an inch. His arrogance was all gone, this was truly him, "he said he was my friend, that he could give me anything I desired for a drop of blood and when I told him that it must have been a dream, he said to ask you and you would confirm it,"

She studies his honest face for a moment, contemplating what he just said. She knew this would mean she had to talk to Jackson, much as she wanted to deny it. She wasn't sure what to do, what to say, how to respond to that. She knew now that she was not like him, not…. Mortal. He shouldn't be getting involved in this. _She_ should not get him involved with this.

"I've had the dream every night this week, each time he asks if I spoke to you and I tell him no-"

"Austin, I have no idea why you're doing this, why you feel the need to make up some ridiculous story so that you can speak to me. I don't know if this is some game or bet you have with your friends-"

"Emma, come on! I'm not pissing around here!" his voice was hushed but urgent.

She closed her eyes and cleared her head,

"Just leave me alone, Austin. It's been a bad week for my mum, I don't need this," a steady flow of guilt built up in her for using her mum. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pained expression form on his face, and she knew she'd hurt him in more ways than one. The thirteen year old inside her still longed to comfort him and make him laugh, but she didn't.

For a moment he was silent as he searched for words, so she picked up her book. As he stood up and walked away, she pretended that the she wasn't reading the same line over and over again.

Coffee, Rory thought making his way into school, was the best thing to ever make it's way into his life. He didn't know how many cups he'd had that morning, but he felt wide awake despite the minimal sleep he got. He had spent most of the morning drinking the hot black substance and washing the ink off the bottom of his palm.

He fumbled his way through his daily classes, scouring the halls for Emma Turner at any chance he got. Bue he didn't see her, he didn't see Jackson, he didn't see Betty and he didn't see Annabeth. Any one of them would have done for an interrogation. He teetered on the edge of hopelessness, but there was always more coffee at hand and Austin Riley standing by to make him laugh. He spent more time with the guys, taking his mind off it. Maybe he hadn't seen anything. Maybe it was just an episode caused by stress of moving. That's what the doctors would say. He was no stranger to doctors probing about in his head.

He had to tell a number of teachers that no he didn't have the work, making up various excuses. He felt bad for using his mom had called, but their faces showed smiles of pity as they nodded and moved on. He'd get back on track tonight. He had to.

He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to training that evening. On the one hand he could just swim, confront Jackson and let out all his anxiety and jitteriness from the past few days. On the other he would have to _see_ Jackson and his whole body was too exhausted to swim well.

Practice passed without too much hassle, he swam well enough for it to go unnoticed. He didn't talk much, but you didn't need to. He made sure to shower fast and be waiting outside for when Jackson crossed the threshold.

"Jackson," he said cooly,

"McKenzie," Percy replied with an equal chill,

"What happened Friday night," he saw the other boy tense up,

"You got drunk out of your mind, last I heard. Still drunk the next day, from the way you treated Emma at the pool,"

"I know what I saw," he said, he wasn't playing their game anymore, "I know you're not human, what happened at trials-"

Jackson snorted, and shook his head,

"Wow Mckenzie, didn't think you were such a sore loser,"

"Jackson, come on, I saw you get into a fight with that… thing,"

"Right, that guy who tried to force himself on my girlfriend, I remember," Percy looked at him, but Rory knew he was lying. The same way he knew Emma was lying.

"I don't know why you're doing this," he hissed, "I know what I saw, both on Friday and Saturday and I know that at trials something grabbed me in the water, or the water grabbed me. I know you fought a-a Harpy,"

The word stuck in his mouth, he couldn't believe he was saying it out loud, but he continued anyway.

"I know you killed it using special bronze swords. You can try and make me think I'm crazy, and that may have worked when I was a kid, but not anymore. I know what I saw, and either I'm going to go out of my freaking mind to prove it, or you're going to talk to me,"

Jackson sighed and looked at the younger boy,

"Have fun going out of your mind."

As Annabeth round the corner, Jackson went over to her and they disappeared down the hall. Left alone with the frustration boiling in him, he slammed his fist into the wall.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi guys, hope everyone's had a good weekend and enjoys this chapter, I'm doing my best to get a new one up every week and will keep doing so. Thank you for all the follows, favourites, views and reviews, it really means a lot so thank you ~ Emma and Sarah**

When he tried not to think about it, he couldn't stop it consuming his mind. When he tried to sleep, he found his fingers itching for the laptop, to find some shred of proof. To find anything. Emma was never at the pool, he tried catching her coming out of her class, but she slipped away in the crowd. Jackson wouldn't talk to him, Annabeth steered clear, even Betty wouldn't talk to him. He still had Riley and the guys, but they were friends not answers. Nothing gave him answers. It had been a week and he was losing it.

He wished he had somewhere to go, somewhere to clear his head. Back in LA it has always been the Santa monica pier. Whenever things with his parents got too much that's where he would go. He enjoyed the way the music from the stores overlapped with the street performers causing a mindless noise. He liked the smell of churros wafting from his left as he looked out from a small spot next to a stand selling shells and tribal looking necklaces. He liked that no one would ask him what he was doing there, he could have been any old tourist come to see the end of route 66 and buy a t-shirt.

New york was nothing like LA. Everyone had a problem with everything and even though it was a big city, there seemed to be nowhere to go to escape. Sometimes he thought he might have preferred it if his dad had moved to a small town on the edge of nowhere.

He sat with the guys around a table at lunch, they were laughing at each other and joking around. He smiled through his heavy lidded eyes as Evan Nixon said he looked like crap.

"Few too many heavy nights out?" jeered Mike, from under his long jet black fringe,

"Something like that," Rory said with a fake grin,

"Too many nights up with that girl then?" Evan said,

"What girl?"

"The English bitch I saw you arguing with in the hall the other day,"

A noise rose up from the guys around him, but Austin cut it short,

"Hey, talk about her like that,"

"What's it to you Riley," Evan said with a smirk that held a small challenge,

"Just leave her alone, girl's got issues,"

"Sounds like she could be some fun," Owen, a short kid for a basketball team, joined in,

"Just forget it,"

"Wait, that the girl you were hitting on yesterday?" Evan's said, his eyes becoming wide with excitement, "oh man-"

"I wasn't hitting on her, Nixon," Riley with a lazy smile, "not my type,"

"And why's that?"

"I don't date weirdos."

The guys laughed, but Rory couldn't help but stare at Riley. Confusion was written all over his face. He was too tired to hide it. He'd kept everything he wanted to say about Emma in, wanting to defend her but not having the energy. He was drained.

As the bell rang, they split to go to class. As soon as Austin moved, Rory was right behind him.

"Why were you talking to Emma?"

"I was just checking up on her, bro," Riley said without looking at him, "I told you we used to be friends,"

A small fact he had completely forgotten at the mention of the girl that occupied his thoughts all day every day. It occurred to him then that Riley may know something about a supernatural side to the girl, but could Rory ask him? Riley would think he was crazy for sure and he wasn't exactly the most popular kid in school without this group. He couldn't shake it though. He knew he had to try.

"Austin," he let the name roll off his tongue before he could think any better, "when you were friends with Emma did you ever notice anything strange about her?"

"You mean apart from the fact shes socially inept?"

"I mean sure, I don't know, I saw something weird at the pool on saturday,"

"What do you mean?" the taller boy said with a hint of skepticism in his voice,

"I mean, like…. It just wasn't normal… it wasn't explainable,"

Riley stopped and turned to him,

"What did you see?" he gave Rory a look that said 'you can trust me, just tell me the truth,' and because he wanted to tell someone so badly, he did.

"There was a huge wave, it came out of nowhere and despite the fact she had been swimming lengths when I came in, her hair was perfectly dry when she got out. I know you'll say I'm crazy, but please believe me. I've never seen anything quite like it,"

Riley surveyed him for a moment, his lips pressed together forming a thin line.

"When we were younger, when she'd just moved here and we were friends, I saw her kill this dog that attacked her. I has tried to fight it off, but it was stronger than any dog should have been. She stabbed it with a dagger and never spoke to me again,"

Something about the way Austin was looking at the ground made Rory think he wasn't getting the full story. Could this dog have been another monster?

"So you don't think I'm crazy," Rory said squinting his eyes,

"No man, I've been having these weird dreams recently were this old dude calls out to me and tells me to talk to 'the Demigod Emma', I don't think any of this is a coincidence,"

"Demigod," Rory breathed the word like it was the code to a vault of gold. It fit with everything he had seen and read and found. The powers, the harpy, the secrets. As the pieces fell into place he found himself questioning if he was ready to believe in a world of myths and legends.

"We both need to get to class Rory, but I'll message you later. If you're looking for her again, she's in my bio class too and we finish today in R9,"

"Cool, okay, thank you man," he said giving Riley a pat on the arm, "seriously, thank you,"

"Don't worry about it," Riley said with a light grin as the parted their separate ways.

"The Upper Epidermis is a single layer of cells containing few or no chloroplasts," Mrs Palmer's commanding voice rang out over the classroom of kids who were either talking loudly at the back, too tired to care, or those who didn't say a word, too tired to be bothered. Wednesday afternoons were like that, "The cells are quite transparent and permit most of the light that strikes them to pass through to the underlying cells. You will need to do further research into these for a small test next week. Class dismissed,"

Just as the last words came out of her mouth, everyone jumped out of their seats in time to the ringing of the bell. Emma pulled on her brown coat to fight off the new york chill that she had become accustomed to. She put her books in her satchel and stood up, letting the river of student pass around her before leaving the room. She put her headphones in and her head down before anyone could notice her.

She knew she had to get food on the way home, the fridge was running empty, though she knew she could always get a take away. Her washing had to be done, but she needed to factor in time it would take to fight of any monster she encountered on the way home. Bahram was not slowing down with his waves of attack.

As she sorted all the things she needed to do in her head she felt a weight on her shoulder. She reached for the place her knife hung from her bag and clasped it before realising that the face that lay before her was that of Rory bloody McKenzie. She considered getting the blade out anyway, but realised it would do nothing to his mortal skin.

"Reaching for your dagger are you," he said as if he had read her mind. She could not hide the shock that came through her eyes and she was left speechless, "Demigod, that's what you are, you're a Demigod, like in all the Greek legends,"

"Let go of me, psycho boy," she hissed, wrenching her arm out of his grip. She spun on her heel and began to walk for the parking lot,

"You can call me what you like, I know I'm right. You lied to Riley too. He's not as dumb as he makes himself out to be, you should give him more credit,"

"I don't even know what your talking about," She burst through the doors and made course for the nearest subway station,

"Yes you do, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Fighting monsters, making the water move without getting wet, shit like that,"

"Jesus McKenzie, I'm getting a restraining order," she pulled the bag higher onto her shoulder,

"Why won't you just talk to me," he roared yanking her back towards him till her face was centimeters from hers. Fear ran through her veins and no the kind she got when faced with monster. This was colder.

"Get the fuck off her, McKenzie," came the all too familiar voice of Percy Jackson, ever the fucking hero.

"I don't need your help, Jackson," she snapped,

"Oh look! The demigods assemble, you part of the team too Annabeth?" Rory practically shouted to the world a Annabeth came up beside Percy.

"You told him?" Jackson looked in astonishment at Emma, "We talked about this Emma, you don't get humans involved!"

Her blood boiled, how dare he. She didn't say a word, just glared at him. There was no point fighting her corner, he would never believe her. Luckily Rory seemed to be intent on making a fool of himself.

"She didn't tell me a damn thing," he said to Jackson, "I worked it out on my own. See I saw you fight the Harpy, I saw her make a wave in the pool, I know that you made the water hold me back at trials. If you wanted this hidden, you slipped up too many times,"

"I told you you shouldn't have done that," Annabeth rolled her eyes,

"Not the time, wise girl," Percy shouted back,

Eyes were drawing on them across the parking lot and she couldn't stand the raised voices. She knew she could slip away as the argued amount themselves. She took a few steps back before turning to walk away.

"Emma, get your ass back here," Jackson's voice froze her in place. She forget that his ADHD would allow him to notice more than the regular person. She turned back and gave him a sarcastic smile as he continued arguing with everyone. She took a deep breath, ensuring her voice was calm and steady,

"This is not the place for this discussion," three sets of eyes looked at her and she looked back with unwavering confidence and as if he had snapped out of a trance Percy's eyes cleared.

"You're right," he said begrudgingly before turning to Rory, "You really want to know about us?"

Rory's nodded as Annabeth rolled her eyes once more, muttering about how bad of an idea this was.

"Then you two are coming with us," Percy said and Emma didn't have the energy to argue.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's late, Uni's been a bit mad lately so thank you for baring with me. I'll keep writing and update as often as I can, hope you enjoy this (or rather last) weeks update ~ Emma and Sarah**

Emma didn't think it possible to feel more awkward than she did in Percy Jackson's small blue apartment. The silence that followed the click of the door felt like there was a pressure growing in the room. No one knew quite what to say, though Rory's eyes were wide open with the rush of the caffeine that had become his lifeforce in the wake of their lies.

Percy gestured to the sofa, so she sat down. Rory took a seat across from her in an armchair and she wasn't sure if it was because he was afraid of her or just wasn't thinking. Percy stayed standing with Annabeth just behind him leaning into the wall. They were a picture perfect group of misfits gathered to discuss terrible things.

As the pressure grew Emma could no longer stay seated and walked over to the kitchen area.

"Cups?" she said without looking back, shy of the blue eyes she knew followed her,

"Top left," Percy replied.

She pulled out a tall glass and filled it with water, taking a sip, before returning to the sofa. As she filled her lungs with a deep breath, she focused on the water. Before too long a stream spiralled out of the cup in a beautiful display of what she could do. It was like a water flowing through a tube as it danced in the air and back into the water. She could feel every drop of it as it followed its path. The world seemed to fall away as she connected with the water. She felt a pull at her powers and the spiral started to compress like a coiled spring. She fought the attack, but Jackson was stronger than she was and she knew it. Eventually she conceded and the water splashed back into the glass, though most of it ended up on the table.

"It's real," Rory breathed and Emma looked at him. He was in awe. He was enthralled. Little did he know that what he saw as a blessing had been a curse and burden to her all her life.

"Yeah, it is," Jackson said in his leader voice, that made Emma's eyes roll, "it's real, it's strange and it's dangerous."

Jackson flicked his head and a jet of water sprayed out of the tap in the kitchen that came rocketing towards them. Emma shot her hand up, but she knew it was his power that stopped it from encasing them and not hers. Her heart settled as the water receded into the tap.

"And you?" Rory said looking at Annabeth, eyes no longer wide from the caffeine, but from sheer childish amazement. Despite the treat.

"I'm not like them," she said simply, "my mother was Athena and-"

"She's insanely smart," Jackson finished for her with a grin.

Emma waited to see what he would say next, how much he would reveal. She thought through it all in her head until she realised that Rory had used the word demigod, a word that she only found over years of research and sureness that she was fighting monsters that were not there for everyone else. She looked at him with his tired eyes and wild expression, but doubted any amount of hours would lead him to being so sure of the word. She decided to test a theory.

"How did you know about the Harpy?" she said leaning forward with curiosity,

"I saw it with my own eyes," he said almost laughing at her stupid question, before realizing what she really meant, "any idiot with a computer can look up what they saw and find a name for it,"

"Jackson, I thought you said humans couldn't see what was really going on," Emma said looking up at him,

"One of three things could be going on. A, he's a demigod like us, easy to check," in a quick motion she stalked up to Rory, pulled out her dagger and tried to run it along his skin in a way that would only leave a scratch. Rory let out a shout of protest, but it didn't leave a scratch, it went right though. If it was possible for his eyelids to peel back further, they did.

"Not A then," she said sheathing her dagger as if that had been a completely mundane thing to do, "B, he's a regular human, they see what they want to see, if he wants to believe in the ancient greek world, he found it,"

"What the hell?" Rory said aggressively, but even Emma could tell he hadn't meant it to be so,

"Clearly that's unlikely, so we have to go with option C. He is like Rachel Elizabeth Dare, he was born with the ability to see our world,"

"Like who?"

"What?" Emma and Rory's words overlapped each other at the sound of a name said with such familiarity yet met their ears without recognition.

"She's a friend of ours," Percy said, "The oracle of Delphi,"

"Why is it Jackson," Emma glowered at him, "That whenever you talk I feel like I should be taking notes,"

"Because everything we say is important and it's all very new to you," Annabeth countered,

"So I'm an oracle?" Rory said with a look of deep confusion,

"How can he be an oracle if they were always maidens," Emma added, looking back and forth between the two older teenagers who stood above them like wise old professors,

"He's not," Annabeth said, "he can just see into our world, Rachel only became the oracle because there was a vacancy. Glad to see you've looked at those books I recommended,"

Emma scoffed at the thought. It wasn't hard to see the arrogance in the child of Athena,

"Oh, I haven't, but it doesn't take a child of Athena to start reading up on mythology when you get regular attacks from monsters at the age of twelve," a mocking smile spread across Emma's face.

"Gods, why didn't he claim you earlier! Why didn't your mom tell you about camp? She must have known," Percy exclaimed running his hand through his hair,

"She never knew about the attacks. They were rare at first and everyone would have called me crazy. And later? Well, 'Hi mum, how's it going? Just to let you know, I'm experiencing monster attacks every week or so, know how to help?' is not exactly what you want to hear when you in a care home," Emma flung her arms out in frustration,

"No guesses which side of the family the sarcasm comes from. No wonder mom hates your dad," Annabeth said slyly,

"You could have been killed by now," Percy shouted ignoring his girlfriend,

"Well I wasn't!" Emma shouted back, "I'm still here. Without your stupid camp, without your smart arse girlfriend and without any help from you. When are you going to get it into that watery brain of yours, that I do not need you to protect me. I've gone seventeen years without it, I can go a hell of a lot more!"

Emma didn't remember standing up, but she found herself on her feet, her eyes blazing like greek fire. She was done playing his game. She was no little girl looking for someone to take her under their wing and she would not be his charity project.

"How did you know to call her a demigod?" Annabeth's voice cut the tension,

"What?" Percy said turning on her,

"Not you, seaweed brain, Rory,"

Emma felt the anger as it moved through her body, was this really the time to change the subject. She turned to Rory but didn't sit back down.

"It was... something Riley said," he stammered caught off guard by the question, "He said he'd been having weird dreams… he mentioned a guy who said talk to Emma the demigod, or something like that,"

"How much did Riley tell you?" Emma said, her boiling anger suddenly running cold,

"You know about the dreams?" Rory fired back,

"He mentioned them," She said steadily so that he wouldn't suspect how much she knew,

"You talk to Austin Riley?" Percy asked with obvious distaste,

"More importantly," Annabeth said loudly, glaring at Percy, "Austin's been having dreams from Bahram and you didn't tell us?"

"I was going to," Emma said, her eyebrows pulling together. She felt like a child who had been caught doing something wrong,

"When did this happen?" Percy interjected,

"Yesterday, jeez, calm down," she flopped back onto the sofa,

"Is our whole damn school full of demigods now?" Percy yelled, "Is Goode High a mythological hot spot now?"

"Percy, there is a high chance he's human," Annabeth said looking down at nothing in particular as if she had just has an epiphany. Emma wasn't sure if she wanted to hear more or roll her eyes again.

"What?" Percy said,

"Remember what Chiron told us. Last time he rose he needed three sacrifices. A demigod, a human and an oracle,"

"That doesn't matter, Rachel is safe and hidden,"

"No, Percy, you're missing the point. Maybe he can get in the heads of Humans too."

A silence settles over the room as each of them wondered what that could mean. The barrier of the two world could melt away. Humans would see the gods and, worse, they would see the monsters. The three demigods sat still as Rory nervously twitched unsure of why they all seemed to scared. Emma knew then that they had to make him understand that this was not knowledge to share. Even if the veil was torn, they didn't need anyone speeding it up.

"Who have you told about all this?" she asked him and as their eyes met he stilled,

"No one. I mean, only Riley and even then not until he asked. You need to tell him too before he gets like me," he broke their eye contact, finding the floor all the more interesting.

She surveyed him like an adult would a troubled child. As he hung his head she found herself pitying him for the days he spent feeling alone, but pity wasn't the right word. More empathy than pity. She knew what that felt like, she'd been feeling it for years. Yet he was so happy to find other people to share this world with. Perhaps he was only happy because he didn't understand the danger, but a part of her knew better. She knew she should feel the same. She knew that having longed for people to protect her when she was young that she should be overjoyed that she was no longer alone. The problem was, she still felt alone. She had become used to fending for herself and not letting anyone in. She had become comfortable in her solitude. She realised that if she was honest with herself, she would admit she was scared of having more people care incase she didn't make it through the day. More people to care about.

She looked from face to face of those who stood around her now and as she met Percy's green eyes, the mirror image of her own, she saw how much he wanted her to accept his help. Bigger problems were on the way, not just small monsters that she could take on by herself. She hated the thought, but she knew she was right. She would need them.

"You can't tell him," Annabeth said breaking the silence, "It's not yours to tell,"

"Well then you should. You all seem pretty scared of this thing getting into his head, so help him stop it. Don't allow it to get him on it's side,"

"He's right, Annabeth," Emma said earnestly, "As much as I hate to agree with him, he is right,"

"We don't bring mortals into this, they don't understand. One is bad enough," Annabeth said in a tone that let them all know she didn't want to be challenged,

"Hey, Rory is no different to your friend Rachel was, you said so yourself. He was part of this world before," Emma argued,

"Well that's great," Annabeth said sarcastically,

"They have a point Annabeth," Percy said with his arms crossed over his chest and Emma was certain he winced as he contradicted his girlfriend,

"What?" she spun on him,

"If Bahram gets in his head, he could use him against us,"

"If Bahram is in his head, then he will be feeding back anything we say,"

"We have to trust them. Yes, we've been betrayed before but if we hadn't trusted Jason and Piper and Leo, we wouldn't have stopped Gaea,"

"You hated Jason at first and didn't trust him at all," Annabeth pointed out stubbornly,

"That's besides the point," he said holding up a hand,

"No it is not!" she shouted back,

"As interesting as this discussion is," Emma interrupted standing up, "I have to go home and do all the things you lot have parents for,"

"I should probably get going too then," Rory awkwardly,

She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door, Roy in tow.

"Emma, I think you should stay, at least till we work out how to keep you safe," Percy said walking over to block her path

"I'm going to be safe," she said stepping around him,

"You can eat here, we have a spare bed," he pleaded and she realised how scared he was for her, "look, apart from you, I have one other half-sibling, who is a cyclops. So I can't help that I want to make sure you're safe. At least let me introduce you to my mom and we can talk more about everything. This is important, Emma,"

She looked at him with a swelling desire to punch him in the face, but she restrained. He had the same look in his eye that her step dad had when she said she wouldn't be coming home. Concern. She couldn't stand it, but that didn't change the fact she found herself not wanting to let him down. He was family after all. Blood family.

"I'd need to go back to get stuff anyway,"

"I'll drive," he said brightly,

"I hate you," she muttered under her breath,

"What?"

"Nothing," she sighed, "Nothing at all."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys, hope everyone had a good week. I really don't think I will be able to update next week as I will have labs all day, coursework and a 10 page lab report to hand in at the end. Sorry :(. I will make it up with a long update at Christmas! Thanks for sticking with me ~ Emma and Sarah**

Cold. He knew it was cold. He could hear breathing and he knew it wasn't his own. He could smell something awful but he didn't know what. He felt his hands start to shake. He knew this couldn't be a dream because dreams were never this vivid, he rarely got dreams.

 _Austin_

He knew the voice all too well. He knew he had been both wrong and right, this wasn't a dream, but he was asleep. It was the ancient voice.

 _Did you speak to her?_

"I tried, she won't let me in," he replied timidly,

 _But you believe?_

"I know something going on,"

 _I can give you everything you desire and keep those you love safe_

"Why? What do you need me to do?"

* * *

"You live here alone?" Percy marvelled, mouth wide open as he walked into her apartment. It wasn't much bigger than his, but as it only had three rooms, two bedrooms and a living area, it was much more spacious.

She tossed her keys into a bowl before turning to him.

"Tea? Coffee?" she didn't have many guests but she still knew her etiquette,

"Oh, I'm fine," he said, taken off guard.

With niceties out of the way she headed for her bedroom. The familiar safe feeling she got when entering her room returned, though it had been tainted by the nightmares Bahram had been sending, it was the closest thing she had to home. The pale blue walls wall went well with her white furniture and it always made her feel better to escape the sickly yellow of the school walls. She pulled a duffle bag down from the top of the cupboard and started to pack a change of clothes and necessary toiletries. Her eyes scanned the room and landed on the mountain of clothes she had neglect to wash due to a lot of time spent blocking out the world. It didn't help the stench of ichor stayed with them.

She made her way back into main room and dumped the bag onto the sofa. She heard a muttering coming from behind her and looked around to see Jackson leaning toward the fish tank built into the kitchen island.

"Are you talking to my fish?" she said in astonishment,

He practically back upon hearing her and she noticed his face start to redden.

"You could speak to them too," he said rubbing his neck, "the conversation's not the best though,"

"I knew you were weird, Jackson, but I didn't know you were that weird,"

"I'm not weird, just a child of Poseidon," he said with a grin, "like you,"

"Doesn't it create moral issues when eating sushi?" she asked raising an eyebrow. His grin dropped into a blank face as if her comment had just caused a crisis in his mind. She laughed and shook her head.

"I need to do some washing, give me an hour?" she said,

Jackson just nodded and moved to the sofa, contemplating what it meant to eat fish.

* * *

As people poured into the subway, Rory decided to split from Jackson's girl as she didn't seem the happiest about being dismissed. He still needed air anyway and wasn't really feeling being home all that soon. He looked up a route on his phone and started walking. As he walked he noticed his eyelids drooping, the effects of both the excitement and the coffee were starting to wear off. The walk took him longer than expected, but he didn't mind. He didn't really care about missing dinner, there would be leftovers.

When he stepped into the apartment he saw the blonde woman perk up and instantly head to his father's study. He was in deep shit. He made quickly for his room, hoping to shut the door before he could be bothered.

"Rory," his father called just as he reached the door. He proceeded into the room and threw his bag onto his bed,

"Yup," he replied coming back into the doorway with a fake smile,

"You missed dinner,"

"I was with friends,"

"Well come get some food."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, but couldn't see the point in arguing. He pushed past his dad and went into the kitchen.

"Middle shelf in the green tub," the woman piped up chirpily,

He took it out and stuck it in the microwave.

"Linda and I are going away this weekend, I'm needed in London on business. I don't really want you here alone, so I've booked you flights to see your mother. You leave on Friday evening and a driver will pick you up from the airport."

He stared at his father in disbelief. He couldn't be serious. Well today was one hell of a day. He tried to suppress the growing excitement as he waited for the catch.

"Just because you don't trust me here?"

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if you trashed the place, so Linda suggested that you go see your mother, didn't you dear?"

The woman nodded eagerly smiling like a blind idiot. Rory supposed that would be the only way to love his father.

"Thank you," Rory said, trying to sound genuine. No matter how happy he was he couldn't bring himself to feel gratitude towards this woman who was such a big part in tearing down his mother's life and subsequently his.

The microwave beeped and he turned to sort it out. Behind him he heard hushed words and shuffling as his father returned to his study and Linda returned to whatever bored housewives filled their time with.

He took the food to his room and was hit with the realisation of how much work he had to catch up on. So he did something he'd never done before. He hit the books hard.

* * *

She made her way to the sofa holding a hot cup of earl grey tea. Her favourite, though she usually had to order it off Amazon due to the tea in America not quite tasting the same, though that may just have been in her head.

"So Amazon is run by the Amazons? The female warriors?" she asked, skeptically,

"No word of a lie, I've seen it myself. They keep all the men in orange jump suits with collars like prisoners. I mean, I guess that's their thing but it was a bit weird,"

"To think I've been keeping in touch with my English roots through them," She pulled her legs up to her chest and sat back in the corner on her fluffy blanket.

"What's the deal with British people and tea anyway? I know it's a but off the whole ancient Greek topic, but still,"

"It's just warm and there are so many different kinds and it's relaxing,"

"I s'pose," he said leaning back into the sofa,

"You need to tell me the whole story. I mean you're eighteen and it sounds like you've seen the world and done it all,"

"As with everything, it sounds cooler than it felt. It didn't feel real half the time. I mean the almost dying did. Almost dying many many times,"

"From the beginning then,"

"Okay, here goes. My life was pretty normal, it wasn't great, but it was normal. Things really started going bad one May, when my sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan."

For all of them, the next day felt a little lighter. Rory wandered the halls after the first good night's sleep he had gotten in a long while. He wasn't quite so behind on work and he felt ready to get back in the pool for some proper training.

As Percy's car pulled into the school parking lot, he looked over at his little sister and smiled. He knew how much she hated doing this but the fact that she would anyway made him very happy. He had always wanted a sibling, but Tyson hadn't quite been what he had in mind. Now a little sister who he could scare any stupid boyfriends off for, that was good.

Emma stared out of the window at the dull school building and tried to shake the fear that now held her. What would be expected of her now? Would Percy want her to see him during the day? Would Rory keep trying to talk to her? She would never knows for certain if any of them really cared about here. She wasn't sure she wanted them to. It really did scare her. It scared her because she liked this feeling. This feeling of family.

* * *

At lunch Rory was gathered round the table with the guys all leaning in to watch the latest video that had gone viral, their laughter filling the air when a familiar voice screeched out.

"Hey Austin," Betty flicked her hair over her shoulder, "Hey boys,"

A whistle went up from Nixon and others muttered things that it was probably best Betty didn't hear.

"Friday, party at my place," she said with a flirty smile, "Better see you all there,"

"You bet," Mike said with a lazy grin, flicking his fringe,

"Wouldn't miss it," Evan added, winking,

"Riley?" she cooed and Rory knew it was an attempt to get his attention, but he couldn't care less. As Austin plastered on a smile and agreed, Rory felt a smirk spread on his face.

"We'll all be there," Austin said,

"Actually Bett's, I'm not in town,"

"What?" Betty's face instantly sunk, but only for a moment. The fake smile was back as she flicked her long hair over her shoulder. "Whatever, your loss. See you all at eight. Austin, I need you at seven to help me set up."

"What?" Austin asked, confused,

"Isn't that what boyfriends are for," she said caressing his cheek.

Austin's eyes were wide and no words came out of his mouth. Clearly he was not aware of this arrangement. Rory knew that Riley's mind would have been elsewhere.

"Gotta go," Betty said loudly, "See you all friday,"

And with that, she was gone. Rory rolled his eyes at the girl. He knew betty was a demigod, but despite everything she still obsessed over parties and her makeup. It didn't make much sense after hearing about what Emma had been through.

"Where are you this weekend?" Riley asked him as the rest of the group went back to their stupid video,

"My mum's in LA. Dads out of town and doesn't want me here unless he is. It's dumb, but I'm still excited to see her and be back in LA. It'll be a lot damn warmer there too," he smiled at the thought of it. Being home.

"Sounds like fun, where abouts does she live?"

"Santa Monica. Not to far from the pier,"

"Never been," Austin said, "is the pier all they say it is?"

"It's more of a tourist attraction than anything, but it's a nice place to go and chill," Rory said, pushing his tray away,

"Yeah, sounds cool."

The cave formed before his eyes, a sight that was becoming very familiar. The voice knew he was there and he knew the voice was there.

* * *

 _So, are you of any use to me? Are you worthy of great power?_

The boy smirked, gripping his wrist behind his back. Despite the cold, He would be confident, he would be smart, he would be strong.

"Mommy's boy is going home, from what I hear," the arrogance in his voice came so naturally, he knew that this was his chance to prove himself, "he's heading back to LA, likes to hang around the pier, possibly on his own,"

Y _ou have done well. If you continue to prove your loyalty I will rise and you will be revered_

He grinned as the air swirled around him, sending him back into a deep sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm alive! Merry Christmas! Thank you all for baring with me, It may be a while before I update again with January exams coming up and all, but as always, I'll try my best. Here is an extra long one to make up for being so absent! Love you all ~ E &S**

Rory beamed as the LA sun hit his face, washing over him in a wave of heat. It wasn't even that warm, but compared to New York? Hell, 75o F felt amazing. With his duffle slung over his shoulder, he walked right through the airport to where the taxi guy was waiting to take him to his mum's place. His home city made New York look like an awful place. The sun and sea were always here and this was where he belonged. By the water. His smile never left his face as they drove.

The one thing Rory couldn't fault his dad for was that his mum was well looked after, despite the divorce. Even though his mother had proof of his father's infidelity, his father had money, enough to bring down the sturdiest justice system. If his dad had wanted to take everything, he would have.

He thanked the driver and walked up to the steps of what had been his home for years. As he unlocked the door and swung it open, he almost tripped as a tiny bundle of orange fur hissed at him.

"Mom!" he shouted with confusion clear in his voice. "I'm home."

"Rory!" he heard his mother call as she emerged at the end of the long, elaborately decorated hallway. Her appearance, as always, contrasted the decor. She wore jeans, converse and simple tee-shirt with a plain blue shirt thrown over the top and left unbuttoned. Her curly brown hair was drawn back into a messy bun with loose strands that fell forward as she leant over to pick up the cat. Rory just stood in the doorway in shock.

"You got a cat?" he asked, finally meeting the eyes that mirrored his.

"Oh, right, Mila got it for me," she said casually stroking the thing like it was normal. "You remember Jeremy's mother."

"Jeremy and I haven't been friends since preschool, Mom," he said with a sigh. Since the drinking got bad around a year ago, her memory wasn't the best.

"Right, right," she said, wandering back into the kitchen.

"And you don't even like animals," he said, dumping his bag at the bottom of the stairs and following her.

"I don't know," she mumbled, "she keeps me company, takes less feeding than you did, to say the least."

He knew he shouldn't, but he found his eyes skidding around the room checking for inevitable bottles. At least she'd tried to hide them. He knew that just because he couldn't see them, it didn't mean they weren't there. Across the kitchen from his mother, Rory leaned back on the countertop.

The house was tidier than it had been when he had left it. As he looked around he re-lived all the memories of his life in LA. House parties, girls and blissful ignorance. Maybe just for the weekend he could let himself slip back into it. Maybe.

"How have you been?" he asked, careful not to sound like he was probing at her drinking,

"Better," she answered a little too quickly, but perhaps he was just on edge, "I joined an AA group."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. No matter what he had said to her, she had always refused the idea.

"Keeping busy?"

"Yeah, even got some of my art moving,"

"That's good," he said.

He was wary of the fact she wouldn't meet his eye and the awkwardness that filled the air. They never really got to say goodbye when his father took him away.

"How's your new school?" she asked,

"Good, yeah, I'm on the swim team,"

"Captain?" she asked, but he knew she didn't care the same way his dad did, when she asked it was because she knew he wanted it.

"No, the guy who _is_ captain is the better swimmer,"

"I told Ethan's mom, Janet, that you were going to be in town tonight. She's invited us over for dinner, but I have a commission that needs to be done by Monday so I said you would go alone, that alright?"

No matter how much he wanted to believe her, he knew that he couldn't, but he also knew that if he called her out without giving her a chance it could ruin everything, so he just smiled weakly.

"Yeah, sure mom."

Dinner with the Clarks was as boring as it was polite. Small talk was exchanged as dinner plates were passed around with elaborate dishes that Mrs Clark insisted were perfectly simple to make. He usually did his best to avoid these affairs, much like his mom, but the fun usually came after when he and his rowdy group got into the streets.

As the dinner came to close, Ethan and Rory took their leave to go. Three other guys would meet them out front in some fancy car that their dad had bought them for no good reason at all, and after seeing Jackson's crappy little apartment he did see the strangeness of it all.

When they got in he let the worries drift away, determined to enjoy his night out. NYC kids had nothing on his LA brothers, not when it came to a good time.

He knew he was drunk when he got in. He laughed as his friends drove off. He went into the kitchen to get some water, no point in a pointless hangover. It hit him that he still hadn't searched for alcohol bottles. He knew he should have more control over himself if he was going to rummage through her perfectly organised kitchen. It was a shame he didn't have the control to stop himself either. Each cupboard was opened, everything was moved out. He couldn't find a thing. It then hit him to walk out back and check there.

In the trash he found both empty and half empty bottles, piled up. A rage filled him that he didn't know how to handle. All he knew is that he was too scared of doing something stupid to his mom to confront her now. So he stumbled upstairs leaving the mess behind and went to bed.

* * *

The corridors made the place look like an old mansion, not a care home. Emma knew her mother was getting the best care, because her step-father would pay for it. That's why they were in America in the first place. As she reached the room she visited so often she knocked lightly and opened the door.

"Hey Mum," she said quietly,

"Emma," her mum said with an adoring smile, "Come here,"

She moved to her mother and wrapped her arms around her, careful not to make her mum uncomfortable in her stiffness,

The room her mum was in was large with a big comfy double bed, a sofa and chair, a TV and a window that let in plenty of light. Emma still didn't quite see why they hadn't just got carers to attend her mother at home or even in England, but then it might have had something to do with the surgery's.

"Now," her mother said as she let her daughter go, "tell me all the news."

* * *

The morning came with a hangover, but not one so bad he couldn't remember what had happened the night before. He groned as he rolled out of bed, knowing how furious his mother would be having seen the mess downstairs, though she hadn't been quite so angry as to wake him. Besides, he had more of a reason to be angry. He decided to take a cold shower to clear his head before he confronted her. He knew he couldn't plan the conversation, but if he could just find out what he wanted to say then that would be enough.

He turned off the water flow and dried off before pulling on grey jeans and a thing blue sweater. His hair dropped in his eyes, the way it often did when it was wet. He took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.

His mom was in the kitchen putting the last few things back into the cupboard. Her hair was supposedly in a bun, but more curls seemed to hang out than stay in. When she saw him he knew how mad she was, as if a small fire had been lit in her eyes.

"What do you have to say for yourself? I've been clearing up after you all morning" she snapped, without giving him time to reply before turning back to continue packing away the kitchen, "I don't know what kind of house your father runs, but here you will be held accountable for your drunken actions and-"

"I found your bottles," he said simply, trying to hide the bitterness from his voice, "in the trash,"

His mother had stopped moving and slowly turned to look at him. He saw her face as her mind tried to find an excuse and he watched as she came up blank.

"You," he started, closing his eyes to try with all he could to keep his voice slow and steady, "You _promised_ that you would stop. You told me that you would and you would prove them wrong and we could be together again! You lied to me!"

By the end of his words, he had failed.

"I don't expect you to understand Rory," she muttered,

"I don't expect to either, mom, but I do expect you to keep your promises. Were you ever going to groups or was that all a lie too?"

"But what's the damn point, huh?" she shouted, anger spilling from every inch of her. She turned toward him, "What's the damn point when my son had been taken away from me, when my husband has left me and no matter what I do or say, no matter what damn groups I attend none of that is going to change."

As she finished she stood leaning over the island counter as if without it she could not stand.

"You can't change Dad not being here," he said softly, not sure whether to go over to her or not as tears started to seep from her eyes, "and I'm not sure I'd want to. He lied to you, he betrayed you. How can you stand there and tell me you want him to come back when all he ever did was patronise you and hurt you. That doesn't make any sense to me,"

"Because it's my fault, Rory," she sobbed, "it's my fault,"

"No, it's not," he knew he should go to her, but he still felt hurt by every lie of 'I'm doing better' he received over the phone, "and you're never going to learn that from the bottom of a bottle."

His sympathy had made him stay this long, but he needed to get out.

"I need some air," was all he said as he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out the door.

* * *

Emma's mum had her fair brown hair, but no sign over her sea eyes, though her mother's dark grey-blue ones still shone when she listened to her daughter talk about the most mundane of things. Assignments, books she'd been reading, how swimming was going.

"How's Austin?" her mother would say every time they spoke,

"We're not friends mum,"

"I do wish you'd make some friends," she said, her hand never ceasing to shake. Emma looked at her mother's saddened face,

"I do have friends," Emma said folding her hands in her lap,

"What do you do together?" she pushed as Emma thought for a moment,

"We swim,"

"That's not very social," her mother gave a small laugh and Emma joined her,

"I suppose not, but we have lunch… and sleepovers,"

"Your social life really has picked up then," she smiled,

"Yes, that actually brings me onto something," Emma said carefully gauge the reaction she would receive,

"What about, darling?" her mother said concerned,

"Dad," she said,

"Oh, Tom's doing really well back in England from what he tells me-"

"No, not Tom," Emma interrupted her, "My dad, my… father,"

"I've told you I don't like to talk about him" her mother said instantly turning cold,

"Mum, I know. I know who he was, I know everything, all the facts,"

A silence followed that hung like humidity in the air.

"How?" her mother's eyes were wide as if she hoped this day would never come,

"I met my brother, a guy called Percy Jackson."

* * *

He banged on the door once. He banged on the door a second time. The third time he just kept knocking until the door of Austin Rileys too large house swung open.

"What do you want?" said Austins blunt voice, before he saw who it was, "Jackson?"

"Are your parents home?" Percy asked assertively,

"No, what-" Austin was cut off by Percy shoving his way inside. Percy would never admit it but he did have to use a fair bit of strength to push the basketball player aside as they came to around the same height.

"You can't just walk into someone's house like that, Jackson, get the hell out,"

Percy spun back to Austin and put his hands on his hips, he had to make sure that Austin knew who was in charge here. Guys like Austin, captain of the team before they reach senior year, always thought there were the most important person in the room.

"You want to talk about those dream's you've been having or what?"

Austin looked at Percy and closed the front door before showing him into the TV room.

"Who told you about my dreams," Austin asked with a fear in his eyes,

"Emma Turner did and if you give her any shit for this I will personally see to it that you never get the chance to talk to her again," Percy's sarcastic smile was full of venom,

"Jeez," Austin said narrowing his eyes, "since when did you become her overprotective boyfriend,"

"She's not my girlfriend, I _have_ a girlfriend, she's long lost family," Percy said, the words spilling out, "but that's not why I'm here. What has the voice told you?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I want to help you,"

"Why are you here alone? Where's Emma?"

Percy could feel his frustration rising with each quick-fire sentence they threw at each other.

"Emma's with her mom right now, I'll tell her what she needs to know,"

"About what?" Austin was almost shouting,

"About your damn dreams,"

"If she wants to know why isn't she here?"

"Because she doesn't know that I am. I wasn't going to let her talk to you about these but she convinced me otherwise, so leave her out of this,"

"And what if I don't want to talk to you?"

The coffee stable stood between them like a barricade that stopped punches flying. Percy closed his eyes and reminded himself that he was here for Emma, because he wanted to do right by his little sister who so desperately needed family and yet wasn't willing to let any in. She gave him a chance and like hell was he gonna blow it.

"Riley," he said through clenched teeth, "if you don't wanna talk, that's fine by me, but she hasn't got the answers. She barely knows more than you. So if you want help, if you want protection... You talk to me,"

Percy assessed Austin carefully and knew the other boy was doing the same to him.

"He told me that if I helped him," he started, looking down at the floor, "if I passed on information… I would be well rewarded and me and everyone I loved would be spared when he… rose,"

"But he won't rise. Unless you pass on information," Percy said, "To rise he had to kill Emma and other of our friends,"

It wasn't technically a lie, but it wasn't the full truth. It was what Austin needed to hear to comply,

"She believes you are better than to take his offer or power and wealth. I was in favour of making you believe that dreams were dreams. Prove her wrong and I will make you regret that choice for the rest of your miserable life. Too many people I love have been hurt in the crossfire of disaster, she will not be one,"

"She trusts me that much?" Austin said, eyes wide, "she still sees good in me? I thought she hated me,"

"Well I don't," Percy said brightly,

"Who is he? The voice?"

"An ancient monster who needs to stay in his confides of Tartarus,"

"Where?"

"You might want to do some research on Greek Myths, since they're all true," he said pulling out a slip of paper on which he had written his phone number on in blue pen, "use this in emergencies or for big questions, I've got stuff to do. Just don't do anything he asks you, he won't keep his promise. As soon as you're useless, you're disposable and you will be disposed."

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and quickly checked to see Annabeth asking how much longer he'd be.

"I've got to go," he said, "only message if it's important,"

And with that he showed himself out the door.

* * *

Rory let himself fall into the lull of the Santa Monica pier as he looked out across the ocean, hidden away around the corner so that he could be by himself. He was often surprised that he still enjoyed going there due to how many times he had come to clear his head of bad things. Bad grades, bad swim races, bad conversations with his father. He couldn't believe she was still drinking. After everything it cost her. Her job at the small art gallery downtown, her true ability to paint due to her hands shaking from the hangover and then finally her son, but as she said, she's got nothing left to lose now. He wished she would see that if she just tried to heal she could get it all back, she could find someone who wouldn't treat her like his dad did, she could get her job back and maybe she could even have him home.

As he rubbed his face and pushed the hair out of his eyes, he noticed someone coming up next to him. He glanced up quickly to see a hot, tall, blonde girl standing next to him. On any other day, he would have been interested, but not here. Not now.

He was about to turn to go when she said,

"What's a guy like you doing out here on his own?"

He met her eyes and saw her intentions plane and clear,

"Sorry sweetheart, not a good day," he said trying to leave again, but she grabbed his arm,

"I can make it a good day," her sultry smile had little effect on him,

"Didn't know the pier was running a midday hooker business," he said intending to wound her,

"What I offer is free," she said sliding up closer and putting her hands on his chest,

"Not. Interested."

He gave her a light shove away. Taken off guard, she fell back a step and he heard a metal clank as her leg hit the railing behind her.

"What the hell?" he said to himself as he looked down at her. That's when he saw that one of her legs was made of bronze and the other was extremely hairy and almost goat leg shaped. The conclusion he came to was, "shit."

No sooner did he try to turn and run than she swung her fist at the side of his head and knock him out cold.

* * *

"It was one of the summers I spent down on the south coast, racing in the harbour, back when I could sail. I was very good at the time. I had won laser nationals and all sorts without being professional, it was a huge story at the time, but this was just within our own small sailing club. There was a new member who was the first good competition I'd had in a long while. At first, I hated him, I hadn't had trouble beating anyone in a long time and then he beat me. He made it look easy. At the end of the first week I had managed to beat him a couple of times, but I couldn't work out how this person I'd never seen before was doing so well. So I tried to talk to him and he asked if I wanted to discuss it over dinner. Before we knew it, we were in love, the young reckless kind. He told me who he was and I was in awe. I'd always loved the myths but for them to be real? He showed me so many things. He stayed with me till the end of the season before he had to go. He had to go and he had left me with you. He gave me the dagger that's displayed in the cabinet at home, you'll be needing-"

Emma drew the dagger from where she kept it in her jeans and her mother paused as she saw it,

"... that, when did you take it?"

"A while ago," Emma replied, not actually knowing how many years ago,

"Oh Emma, I'm so sorry, if I had known…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"He told me to keep you in the dark as long as possible," she said with sad eyes, "it would mean the monsters would be kept at bay. Oh Emma,"

Her mother's shaky hand reached out and took hers.

"I suppose it's time to send you to that camp. It's not too far from here, two and a half hour drive at the most,"

"I'm not going to any camp, I've been doing fine on my own,"

"I hate that you have had to face it alone Emma, but now you won't be able to do that anymore. You got your licence over summer, take the car and go every Friday and come back on Sunday. If you know, the monsters do too,"

There was a serious fear in her mother's eyes.

"It's very convenient that it's so close,"

"I knew this day couldn't be far off,"

"So we didn't move because-"

"England has perfectly good care for my disease. I want you to go to that camp, I want you to be safe," her mother looked at her seriously,

"Okay," she lied, "I will,"

She slumped back in her seat, her tremor worsened by the stress and Emma felt a pang of guilt.

"I love you Emma, don't ever forget it,"

"I love you too mum,"

Just then there was a knock at the door and blue clad nurse popped her head around the door,

"Hey Emma, good to see you again! I'm sorry to say I need to steal your mom as she's got an appointment with the doctor, is that okay sweetie?"

"Yeah, I was just about to head back anyway," Emma said getting up and taking her coat of the seat. She went over and wrapped her arms around her mother, "see you soon,"

"You too dear, stay safe,"

"Will do."

She shrugged on her coat and headed for the exit. As she passed one of the rooms she could hear the sound of vomiting and couldn't think of a place she'd less like to work. No wonder all the nurses were so patronising, they must feel so bloody righteous working in a place like this. As she stepped out of the door she took a deep breath of air that didn't smell like steriliser. She quickened her pace and as she rounded the corner she walked straight into someone,

"I'm so sorry," she blurted out, stepping back, but when she looked up she found herself locked in the eyes of Austin Riley, "Oh Austin, what… what are you doing here,"

In the wake of everything that had happened she forgot to be callus toward him.

"Waiting for you,"

"Me? What?" she stammered,

"Percy came to see me, to tell me about my dreams like you asked him too. Emma the demi-god. I don't think I've ever read so much so quickly, I needed to know. That day with the dog, you were fighting a monster that I couldn't see. You were so young,"

The awe in his voice and the way his eyes looked over her made her want to cry. The thought she might have her friend back, but knowing he still needed protection,

"I had to… I had to tell you never to come back because I couldn't risk you getting hurt again,"

The words came gushing out, her childhood self had wanted to say those words so many times that she could not believe they were finally out in the cold air.

"Emma," he said, never breaking eyes contact. He reached his palm up and cupped her face and she felt a swell in her chest. Then his lips were on hers in an explosion of confusion that felt so damn good she could barely believe what was happening. This was not real, this was a trick, a dream. Austin Riley, captain of the basketball team, the boy she told to never talk to her again was here, now, wanting her, kissing her. For her first kiss. His lips were soft and gentle but there was a tension as if he were holding back, unwilling to hurt or scare her. She realised that she should probably move her lips too. With her arms feeling awkward she started to move her lips to his rhythm and as he felt her response he pressed the kiss deeper until he drew back and left them both gasping for air.

For a moment they stayed like that. His hands holding her face and their eyes locked in a mutual feeling of questioning reality.

"I'm going to walk you home," he said slowly and she knew he didn't mean that forcefully, he just wanted her to know that that was what he wanted to do.

"Okay," was all she could say and so they walked.

* * *

"How did it go?" Annabeth asked with a bitter note in her voice,

"Fine, I told him what he needed to know," he said before explaining it in full.

"This is all going to blow up in our faces, you know that right?" she said with a disapproving look on her face,

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said back. He was tired and didn't really want to argue with her now.

"You really think that now Austin Riley believes that it's real, he won't choose being loyal to a bunch of people he doesn't know over keeping the ones he does care about safe with the added bonus of great power? Of course not."

"Emma trusts him, so I have to try-"

"And why do you trust her anyway," Annabeth said. She wasn't even getting worked up, just stating all of it like fact,

"Because she's my sister,"

"That worked out really well for the Aphrodite cabin in the Titan war, didn't it. They even knew Selina, we don't know a thing about Emma,"

"What are you implying? That she's working for Bahram?"

"I'm not saying she is, I'm just saying we should be careful,"

With frustration building in him, Percy stood up and half turned away from her,

"That's ridiculous," he said, "you saw the fear in her eyes when she thought we were from him,"

"People have fooled us before, Percy, we don't _know_ that it's not all just a big act,"

Though he wanted to fight her he couldn't think of anything to say. He felt her hand on his shoulder,

"I'm not trying to come between you, I _want_ this to all be happy families and I know how much you want to be there for her, but you _need_ to be more careful around her. People lie and this is not just about you getting hurt. This is about the fate of the world,"

"She is trusting me, when she didn't want to. She deserves the same from me," he said flatly, turning to her and pushing her hair behind her ear, "but I will try and keep what you've said in mind. No matter what happens with everyone else, you mean the world to me Annabeth,"

He lent his head down and kissed her softly, pulling her frame against his.

"Thank you," her lips muttered against his before joining them again.

* * *

They walked in awkward silence all the way back to her flat. She didn't know what to say, but her mind was racing. She couldn't get all her fears out of her head. What if this was just a trick, what if he just turned around and laughed at her. What if he was still seeing Betty? Was there a possible world in which she could date an ex of Betty gardener?

As she slipped her keys onto the door another fear dawned on her. What if he was expecting more when they got inside? A darkness swelled in her stomach.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. She was not small or weak, no matter what he did, she could hold her own.

"Do you want some Tea?" she said as they passed the threshold, "sorry, I don't keep any coffee,"

"Urm, Tea's fine," he said looking around curiously. She decided now was as good a time as any to make an awkward situation even more awkward as she was in the kitchen with her back to him getting the things out to make the Tea.

"I hate to say this out loud, but I just wanted to make it clear to you that I'm not like the other girls you've been with, by which I mean, I will not be getting into bed with you after a kiss and a few sweet words and-"

"Emma," he said levelly and she turned to look at his earnest face, "I know, I know you and I would never expect that of you,"

Silently she filled up the kettle and flipped the switch,

"If you're messing with me, I swear to god Riley-"

"I'm not messing with you,"

"How does this work then?" she asked quietly, leaning her back against the counter, "before adding "I've not had friends for a while, let alone… whatever this is,"

He laughed at her tone,

"Well it works however you want it to," he said with a smirk,

"What does that even mean?" she said smiling hysterically at how much of a mess she was,

"It means it's different with every pair of people. Some girls it's just making out every now and then, no commitment. Some girls want more but are unsure so you're on and off like me and Betty. Some girls want labels, some don't, anything goes,"

"What on earth did you see in that girl?"

"That's your first question?" he laughed, "not much, but she's not someone you want as an enemy so it was easier just to go with it,"

"Are you together now?"

"I mean I'm not with her, I'm not sure she'd say the same thing about me, despite the fact she's not talking to me since I didn't just turn up early to her party on demand last night,"

"And what will this make me?" she asked gesturing between them, "because I am in no way going to become just another one of your hookups, Riley-"

"-And you won't-"

"-but I'm nowhere near ready to commit to someone or be in a relationship,"

Her truthful words hung in the air. She wasn't. She knew that. All she knew about relationships between people she learned from books, films and TV shows.

"How about it works like this then. I forget other girls and focus on you. We go on a couple of dates, hang out, maybe even kiss every now and then,"

"You're mocking me!" she said with a disbelieving smile,

"I'm not! I'm just saying we go as far as you want and stop if you're not comfortable. We just spend time together and when you know what you want you let me know,"

"And what about you?"

A banging at the door was accompanied by an multicoloured light erupting in the centre of the living area.

"What the?" Austin said as she rushed over to the door to let in a frantic looking Percy followed by his girlfriend.

"It's Rory," was all he said as she grabbed her arm and put her in front of the light.

The light cleared into an image of a boy tied up to a metal chair sagging forward. He seemed to be in a dark room,

"Bahram sends his regards," said a voice that belonged to a tall blonde girl,

"Who is she?" Emma shot to Percy,

"She's not a person, look at her legs, she's an Empousa,"

When Emma looked, truly looked. She could see the bronze and goat combination that made up the young woman's lower body.

"What is going on!" Austin demanded, "Why is Jackson here?"

"Shut up, Riley," Annabeth spat through clenched teeth,

It was a good job that the girl in the Image didn't seem to hear them squabbling.

"I have something you might want to come and collect," she said yanking a fistful or dark brown hair up to reveal Rory's face,

Emma felt a lump in her stomach drop. For some reason she had subconsciously let herself believe that if he was far away he was safe.

"Meet me at the stone canyon reservoir in LA and bring the redhead oracle. You have 24 hours,"

"Or what?" she said foolishly knowing what was coming,

"Or I kill him."

The girl slashed through the air and the image was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm gonna keep trying to update as often as I can, hopefully at least once a month :)**

"What... the fuck... was that?" Austin said, breaking the silence the message had left.

"Iris message, it's how demigods tend to communicate," Percy said as if it were nothing.

Emma could feel every beat of her heart. This was her fault. She had brought him into their world. She'd just brought Austin into it too.

"We've got to get out there," she heard Percy say to Annabeth, "can you see if Jason and Piper are around?"

"New Rome is in California, I could see if Hazel and Frank could help us too. It's a trap, so we need to be ready,"

"Okay, bathroom's just over there," he said, pointing Annabeth in the right direction. It was strange to have someone else show people round your home.

She heard water running and a coin being flipped when Percy came into her vision.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I barely knew the arsehole. But it's a shock. It's different to how I've known monsters so far. Never so… calculated," she pressed her finger tips to her forehead

"Look, I know you can hold your own, but I don't want you to come,"

"Because I'm your little sister?" she asked bitterly flicking her eyes up,

"Because we have never fought together. If we can get Jason, Piper, Hazel and Frank, then it's a team we all know. I don't want to be worrying about you,"

"I can't just sit here when It's my fault!" she shouted, throwing her hands down.

"Emma," Percy started confession written on his face, "How is this your fault?"

But Annabeth walked into view at the bathroom door taking his attention,

"Piper's calling her dad now, if all goes well we'll be getting on the plane at JFK and stopping to pick them up on route,"

As soon as the words were out her mouth she ducked back in,

Emma didn't speak, she just hung her head in her hands and tried not to cry.

"You can't come," Percy said getting up from his crouch position,

"You can't stop me," Emma cried, on her feet before she knew what she was doing, "I may not be as strong as you but that doesn't mean I'm weak. You said you were fighting with Hazel and Frank soon after you met them,"

"But it's always better to have a team you know,"

"Well if you're as good as you say you are then it won't matter!"

"I never said that, Emma!" he shouted, "We were kids then, we're still kids now, this isn't the Avengers!"

"Kids who saved the world twice," Emma pointed out,

"All you're doing is showing me you're not ready for this," Percy said crossing his arms,

"Well you're gonna have to stop me then," she stared him down,

"Why are you being so damn stubborn!"

"Guess it must run in the family, brother," she said with malice,

"Seriously? you're gonna pull that one,"

"You snuck out on someone else's quest when you were 13! Rory is _my_ problem, so I should go,"

She hated the seconds hesitation that she had before she called him her problem. What were they really? They weren't friends and they certainly weren't anything more.

"Let her come," Annabeth said from the bathroom doorway with a sigh, "you knew nothing and were twelve when you fought Ares and we're just fighting an Empousa,"

"You know it's going to be a trap, Annabeth,"

"Maybe, maybe not. An extra person who's far more experienced than your 12 year old self, will not be a dead weight,"

For a moment they stared at each other and Emma wondered if there was some special demigod link between them.

"Fine," Percy said allowed, leaving her wondering, "but if anything goes wrong,"

He turned to her with a fear in his eyes,

"You run the other way,"

"Fine," Emma said, marching off to her room where she slammed the door.

A wild grin spread across her face and she wasn't quite sure why.

The leather seats and wooden furnishings left Emma feeling out of her depth. As everyone else rushed around her, settling in and placing print out maps of the area on the table in the centre of the aircraft, she slowly put her bag down and took herself through what had happened in the last few hours. Austin wanted her. Wanted to be with her. No one had ever wanted her before, but with everything that was going on…

She didn't really want to think about it now.

" _What was Austin doing there?"_

Percy had asked her as the two of them drove over to the airport. The others had needed to go and pack.

She'd wanted to snap at him, tell him it was none of his business, that he was being an overprotective arsehole and that he should just leave her alone. Instead, she held her tongue and reminded him that she and Austin used to be friends.

" _No on invited ex-friends over, just like you wouldn't kiss an ex-girlfriend,"_

Silence once again filled the space as she tried to work her way around the confrontation. She had finally sighed and said,

" _He cares about me, okay? Look, can we just talk about something else?"_

But they didn't talk about anything else. They didn't talk about anything at all.

She pulled herself back to reality, staring out the window of the small jet as the rain washed over it. Everyone was told to take their seats for landing and Percy and Annabeth strapped themselves in either side of the table, leaving Emma to plug her headphones in and zone out. She must have been oblivious to how tired everything she'd been through had made her be, because she didn't even realise what was going on until they landed to pick up the others.

Rory woke to a pounding in his head, not unusual for after a night out, but when he opened his eyes he found that one was sore and swollen shut. He didn't think he remembered getting into a fight, but he reasoned that he must have been very drunk. As he tried to reach up to test the damage he found that he couldn't move his hands an inch from behind his back, in fact his wrists felt sore too. As his senses came into sharper focus he felt sand beneath his face but the air lacked the salty smell of the sea.

The sea. That's where he had been. He'd been getting some air because of his mom. Now he lay in the sand by a lake, beaten and tied up. He racked his brain for the last thing he remembered. There had been a girl, a hot girl… with a brass leg.

 _Holy shit._

He opened his one good eye to see her standing a few feet away from him, facing the forest. He gasped and breathed in sand that left him spluttering.

"You're up!" she shrieked with delight, skipping over to him and effortlessly yanking him up into sitting position. "Do you know how bored I've been waiting for your pathetic band of saviours. I had to Iris message all three of them and none of them have showed!"

"I'm sure that's a real hardship for you, sweetheart," he said bitterly,

"Oh, feisty," she said with a smirk and he just stared her down,

"No one's going to come for me," Rory said with a pained smile, "I don't even know who you called, but their not coming,

"The son of poseidon never leaves an innocent to die and his daughter is fond of you, is she not?"

"Who? Emma?" he said, a feeling of dread rising in his stomach,

"Such a pretty name for a pretty girl,"

He felt a rage build in him, a rage he didn't understand. He felt the need to protect her, even when she was the demi-god and he was the one in trouble. All he could see when he closed his eyes were her green ones. He knew there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do that would be of any consequence and the feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. He wanted to lash out, to punch something, to break something, but all he could do was pull against his bonds and lie shaking with rage.

She saw the girl first, Piper she assumed, with her annoyingly stunning, makeup-less face and choppy haircut that seemed to work incredibly well for her. Emma noticed the girl was an inch or two shorter than her but that could just be compared to her really tall boyfriend who followed, a guy called Jason. Piper and Annabeth embraced while the boys did the whole bro hug thing. Their smiles and small talk confused Emma considering the situation. It took either of them a while to notice her, sitting quietly in the corner.

"Who's this?" Piper said with a bemused smile,

"This..." Percy said, timidly, "Is my sister,"

"Sister!" both the tall blonde boy and the girl blurted out, looking at percy as if he just told them he murdered a god.

"Hi," Emma said, breaking the tension with a small wave.

"So he broke the rule twice?"

"Has she been on her own all this time?"

"Why haven't we heard about her?"

"How is she still alive?"

More questions came pouring out the couples lips as if she weren't there at all. Annabeth and Percy gave each other a sideways glance.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need a plan."

The four of them hovered over the map, pointing out potential hiding spots, examining traps that could have been laid and working out a plan. Emma stood back, listening and watching, but never saying a word. Though she would never admit it, she was starting to feel the creeping sensation of fear running down her spine.

As the final plan was set they dispersed, Annabeth to a chair on the other side of the room to Emma, Piper and Jason to the seats across the aisle from Emma's and Percy just stayed standing over the table running through every possible scenario.

A matter of moments later Emma found herself no longer alone, with Piper sitting next to her. The girl smiled but Emma just looked at her unwaveringly, but it didn't seem to bother her.

"I'm Piper," she said smiling,

"I know," Emma replied,

"It's your friend we're saving right?"

"We're not friends, I just got him into this mess,"

"Right, it's not a big deal anyway. We'll just go in, get him out and try not to get caught in the process. He needs three things in order to rise, or so the myth goes. The blood of a mortal, the soul of a demi-god and the tears of an oracle combined in a lake That's the reason Percy doesn't want you to go. You're a child of the big three. He'll want the most powerful demigod he can get."

"But he doesn't have the oracle right? She's safe. So it doesn't matter,"

"He's just looking out for you," she said softly,

"And he's only pushing me away," Emma said putting her headphones back on.

The plane touched down on California soil the next morning and then they were in motion. A young girl called Hazel and a boy called Frank were standing by and they all piled into a taxi that was waiting. Frank was armed with a bow and arrow, while hazel had her sword strapped to her hip. The plan was relayed to them quickly before they pulled up not too far from the lake. Emma almost screamed as Frank disappeared into thin air with only an eagle rising up from the space he left. This was until someone explained that he was a shapeshifter and she calmed herself down, conscious of Percy's eyes lingering on her, just waiting for an excuse to say she's not ready.

She drew her knife from her boot and held it ready as percy talked them through the plan once more.

Frank returned with a grave face that made Emma's stomach turn.

"He's pretty beaten up, I don't know if he's conscious. The only one out in the open is the empousa, but there are lots more in the shadows waiting to strike. It is a trap. I noticed something strange as well, she has this strange necklace around her neck, like a metal vial. She might have blood of a mortal in it… or worse, the tears of an oracle."

"We need to be on our guard, but I don't see how she could have," Percy said,

"She doesn't have two vials, she would need two vials," Hazel added,

"He's a mortal though," Jason said,

"But he has the sight," Annabeth countered, "so it's a little harder to say if he counts,"

"Who'd have thought it, you even get small print when trying to raise an ancient monster," Emma said sarcastically,

"We don't know how much time we have left," Percy said cutting everyone off, "We need to go now. Ready?"

They nodded.

"Then let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So it's been a little while... by which I mean about a year and a half. I am really sorry for leaving it so long without any update, as I didn't want to keep on doing it irregularly. BUT I have now written to the end of Chapter 20 and will be releasing them every Sunday for the next 8 weeks. I will be writing as these get released, but I won't release any more after 20 until I've finished 30. Think of it like a TV show season.**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who had read Troubled Waters in my absence and thank you to everyone else who has been waiting for the next part of the story. It** ** _will_** **get finished, no matter how long it takes. ~ Emma x**

* * *

Under the surface of the lake there seemed to be a new world. Emma had always found solace in the water but nothing quite like this. Surrounded by a muted chorus of sounds, she found it odd that she could breathe normally for so long. Having thought it unnatural, she had never tried to sustain herself but here she was. Despite all that was to come, she felt a sense of peace. They walked with the ease of a mortal walking through air as Percy manipulated the currents. They came to a stop on the other side of the lake, waiting for the signal. They were not to say a word for fear that sea monsters could lurk beneath the waters.

Time passed and she had to remind herself how much longer it would take the others who had to go around the lake. She took a deep breath and looked around her at the wonder of this habitat. Fish swirled around weeds as Emma reached out her hand pushing the current away from her and watching the weeds shoot to the floor. She jumped and released her hold as Percy shot her a look that pretty well said, 'what in Hades name do you think you're doing.' Or some other greek god slang term like that.

She mouthed the word sorry but as soon as he looked away she tried again, gently. The plant rippled away as if gracefully bowing the the bank. A small smile worked its way onto her face.

Each breath gave her the weirdest sensation. She felt as if the water should be filling her lungs, but it didn't.

Her eyes darted at the sign of movement. A dagger floated through the water a short distance away from them and she felt Percy pulling it toward them with the current. He kept pulling the water even after the dagger was in his hand, forming a wave that rolled back behind them, leaving them dry as if untouched by the lake. The others were already fighting on the shore. There were more monsters than she could name of all shapes and sizes as the demigods wielded daggers and swords, or teeth in Franks case, against them. With her dagger in hand she surveyed the scene, desperate to see his face, to know Rory was alive.

Her eyes landed on his body. He was on his knees with his hands tied and one eye swollen to the size of a squash ball. She felt a pang in her chest. This was her fault.

"You made it!" Shrieked the blonde girl from the Iris message, "I was so sad when I couldn't see you among the others."

Percy didn't answer. He lunged at her with his sword, while throwing Annabeth her dagger. Emma ran to Rory's body while she was distracted. The girl jumped back with a giggle.

"Come on now, I always prefer a lover to a fighter." She grinned wickedly as her hair started to burn. No, not burn. Flame.

Emma slashed Rory's restraints with her knife as Percy fought the girl, the empousa.

"Are you alright?" she said, knowing that no true answer could be yes.

"I'll survive, it's not the worst fight I've gotten into."

His eyes, or rather eye, suddenly grew wide as his gaze shifted over her shoulder. She focused her hearing until she knew it was close enough, before twisting round and slashing through its legs with her knife. As he cried out she got a look at his one eyed face. A cyclops. She was fighting a cyclops. No need to freak out.

She took his moment of agony to dart around behind him and slash him again, snapping the ligaments of him knees. He fell to the ground as Rory scrambled out of the way. Finally she plunged her dagger into his back and he became nothing more than a pile of dust.

She was aware of everything happening at once, with pieces of her attention flying all across the beach. The rush of the fight heightened her senses and she found a concentration that her ADHD so often prevented her from finding. She knew not to get too involved so she watched, standing in front of Rory to ensure he was protected. As she looked on at the others fighting, she saw a beauty in it. There was a clear divide in fighting style. The chocolate skinned girl, whose name she couldn't quite remember, and Frank fought with such discipline. Their moves were careful and calculated, stabbing and blocking. The same could be said of the tall blond guy.

The others all fought in a whirlwind of slashes and anger. A beautiful dance that slowed their opponent until the final blow. She was mesmerised.

A cuss tumbled from her lips as she jumped back. A monster had lunged at her, catching her off guard. She slashed out her dagger wishing it were longer as it only snagged one of the monsters spiked tentacles. It almost looked like a small black shrivelled octopus. As it lunged again she slipped her dagger through the spikes and they fell to the floor. It hissed and spat a dark liquid that singed her skin. She cried out but knew that she had to attack now. She threw her dagger into its open mouth. It let out a piercing cry before crumbling before her eyes. She ran over to pick up her dagger but an ugly cyclops got there first.

She backed up thinking fast.

"I liked that one." He said narrowing his eye before carelessly flinging her dagger into the lake. Emma felt her heart drop in chest. What on earth was she going to do without her bleeding dagger!

As she backed up toward Rory she felt her fear grow. She was angry at herself, angry for bringing him into all this, if only she had controlled her powers and not almost drowned him in her tidal wave.

That was the moment the daughter of Poseidon realised she had been neglecting her greatest weapon. The water.

She closed her eyes and tried to feel through the lake for the celestial bronze. She almost felt her fingers wrap around the dagger's handle as she summoned a streak of water to bring it to her. She grabbed the dagger and let the water form into a ball behind her target. Once steady, she summoned it toward her and the point sailed through the air and into the cyclops' head.

Another monster was on her before she even saw it coming. Instantly, she called to the water. She formed an orb of liquid around its head, catching the venomous bile that it was spitting at her. As she ran to get her dagger, it fell to its knees, confused. She released her grip on the water as she plunged the blade into its neck.

She darted her eyes back to Rory and ran to his side.

"Emma your arm." He said.

Her arm? That's what he was asking about? Between the state of him and the way she was fighting, the last thing on his mind should be her health and wellbeing! Her burns could wait.

She ran her eyes over him once more, checking his skin any new cuts, burns or bruises, but she found her eyes tumbling into the deep blue ocean of his. They held no fear. Despite being plunged into a world of demigods and monsters, he showed only concern. Gone was the boy who called her a freak at the pool. He was different now; focused, pragmatic and in a way... brave.

Their locked gaze was ripped apart as something sized her around the waist, hauling her into the air. A tentacle was wrapped around her body and an involuntary cry left her lungs. She heard Rory scream her name as she was snatched out of reach.

A second tentacle started to loop its way around her throat. She took a deep breath and by the time she tried to let it out, her airway was completely blocked. She struggled against its grip but it was useless. A glint in the sand told her were her dagger was now. She tried to call it up with the same old trick but the monster just flicked it out of the reach of her waning power. Her lungs burned with a thirst for oxygen that she could not quench.

The empousas howl of laughter still managed to pierce her ears from where she hung, but her vision was too spotted to see where the sound came from.

"Soul of a demigod!"

That was the last thing she heard before the world went black.

* * *

Percy couldn't believe it. How on earth could they have missed a kraken in the lake. It's tentacles barely fit from bank to bank. He didn't dare move too fast for fear of Emma's life. He heard one of Frank's arrows shoot toward the empousa, but the sea creature knocked it away effortlessly. He had never felt so helpless. He looked to Annabeth, she would know. She would have a plan. She plunged her dagger into the hellhound she was fighting before running over to him.

"Annabeth." His voice almost cracked as he called her. "Tell me what to do."

She stared at the kraken, not meeting his eyes. Three words fell from her lips that he never thought he would hear. "I don't know. I don't know, unless you have the head of Medusa lying around anywhere."

"You Demigods get too arrogant." The empousa hissed as she gestured to the creature before turning on her heel and running.

Percy couldn't take his eyes off Emma's limp body as it fell from the krakens hold. His mind flashed with futures that would never be if he couldn't save her. He focused all his strength on catching her in the water, carefully maneuvering her body away from the fray as he ran to her. He fell to his knees shaking, begging the water to wash over her, to heal her. Like it had healed him so many times.

"Emma, come on Emma, you can breath, you can breath."

He willed the water to soak into her clothes, her hair, her skin, anything that might heal her. Fear and rage built inside of him as tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"Dad… you abandoned her for years." He could barely get the words out, but he steeled himself, he could not fail her now. "Save her. Please, save her."

He willed the water with all the power he had, desperately trying to sense her pull on it. The water began to swirl around her body, making her hair look as alive as Medusa's snakes. He realised it was not his power causing the motion. He stumbled back, splashing the water. He watched as the water ran over her body, lifted her up.

Her eyes fluttered open as if she had been merely asleep the whole time. He finally allowed himself to breath again, pulling in gulps of air. The waves laid her back on the sand bed of the lake and she seemed almost groggy as she pushed the wet hair from her eyes.

He dragged her into his chest, feeling every breath she took. The fear he had felt left him shaking.

"You are _never_ leaving your apartment again, you hear me?" He said in a hushed voice.

She moved as if to put her arms around him but instead she was struggling against him. He let go instantly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He stated searching her body body for injuries. How could be he so stupid? She could be hurt in a number of ways and he could have made it worse. Panic flared in her eyes as she made to stand before falling back down, unaware of how tired she must have been.

"Rory." she said, though he could tell how much that word hurt her from how coarse her voice sounded.

"Seriously? You almost die and you're worrying about _him?_ " Percy said in disbelief.

"No!" She said gripping his shoulder to make him turn around, "Look."

* * *

Emma. Emma. Emma. Emma. Emma. It was the only word, the only combination of letters Rory's mind could churn out over and over. Screw the other 23 letters of the alphabet. Though he never admitted it to himself before, the glowing glint of hope that she would come for him was what kept him going as he lay, face pressed into the sand. He couldn't say why. He had no idea why she mattered to him. Why it was her face behind his eyes when they closed. He didn't know her, it made no sense. But then… she didn't know him… and she had come for him. He wanted to help her, throw her a weapon, kill the thing, but he was useless.

He had never seen anything like the creature that held her. Like some kind of octopus on steroids but with a thick grey-green hide. He could do nothing but watch as she slipped from its grasp and fell. He thought he felt his eyes prick but dismissed the thought.

Jackson caught her on a wave and brought her down to the shoreline and Rory fell to his knees. He had never been so thankful for Percy's presence even though he had no idea if she was alive. As he brought his hand up to cover his mouth he felt the dampness of his cheeks.

"Those are too precious to just wipe away," beamed the blonde girl who had taken him, though he had no idea where she had come from. Her strength shocked him once again as he failed to wrench his arm away. She made quick work of tying his hands again before biting the pendent that lay around her neck. She pulled the other half and it opened, like a stopper in a test tube. The metal felt cold as she scraped it along his cheeks. He tried to pull away but she held his head firmly, laughing with a cackle that could rival Betty Gardeners shrill voice. Panic rose in his chest.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Get off me!" He shouted.

"Your eyes can see more than others can, that makes them special. It makes your tears special too." She explained, reassembling her necklace. "You could do better than these fools. They are always too sure of themselves. All it took was a lake and a mortal to scare them into thinking we could raise him now. They won't win."

She traced her finger along his jaw and he cringed at her touch. He could feel desire rolling off her and it scared him more than anything else had in his life. He felt so vulnerable in that moment that he would have done anything to run. When she pressed her lips on him he felt like vomiting. He would rather be hit a thousand times over than have her touch him like that.

"Join us." She whispered as she pulled back, her yellow eyes searing into him.

His only answer came as he spat in her face. She hissed as she wiped it off.

"You'll pay for that, mortal!"

She made to lunge at him but her head snapped up and she froze. Rory realised someone must have noticed her.

"He still wants the girl, make no mistake. This is not the end." The empousas last words hung in the air as she turned and ran.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Many may ask how it took me so long to realise my pen name was the same as the one I gave to my main character. I just want to say that Emma is in no way, shape or form based on myself. I just evidently like the name Emma too much! Hope you guys enjoy this weeks update, thank you to everyone who's followed and please review if you can, the feedback is really helpful ~ Emma**

* * *

Percy looked over to the boy he had forgotten. The empousa had his wrists tied again and was hovering over his face. From the corner of his eye, Percy saw Emma stagger to her feet before falling down again. She was evidently drained from the way her eyes drooped and her arms swayed. As she dropped into the sand, she was already moving to get up.

"Whoa there, you're not going anywhere." He said catching her as she stumbled again. He felt the defiance in her as she tried to get up once more. "Cut it out Emma, you can't walk."

She tried to shove him, but the force was so feeble he barely moved at all. A tear slid down her cheek. Her pain and frustration was hard for him to watch.

"Help him." She breathed, clutching his arm with both her hands and trying to meet his eyes through the strands of hair that had escaped her braids. "Please… help him."

"I'm staying with you, I can't leave you right now." He said, feeling keen stab of guilt. He wanted to help Rory, he did, but he knew if anything came near her she wouldn't be able to fight it.

"I won't leave him." She croaked with more strength than someone who just died should have had, though her voice was weak and strained. She pushed him harder this time, getting to her feet. He grabbed her wrist as she took two shaky steps forward.

"Emma, no!" He shouted. Why wouldn't she listen? Why was she so damn stubborn?

"I won't… I won't leave him." She cringed at the pain the words cost her and her body swayed with the effort it took to stay standing. He knew she wouldn't quit. He knew because he wouldn't have quit if he were in her position.

" _Damn it_." He hissed under his breath. This must be how Annabeth felt with him all the damn time. He quickly looked around them and saw where Emma's dagger was located. He made quick work of returning it to her, pressing it firmly into her hand.

"Stay here. Use the water." He said. "If you move, I will not help him, I will come back here and leave him, you understand?"

She nodded gently and raised her sea green eyes to meet his. The look of steel was all he needed to know that she would survive without him. But a little help never hurt anyone.

"Piper!" He shouted as he turned on his heel and ran up the bank. "Stay with Emma."

He didn't look back, but he imagined he could feel the daggers of his little sisters glare. Piper moved to cover her as he charged toward the empousa.

Her head snapped up from whatever she had been doing to torment McKenzie and a moment later she was running. Why would she leave when they still had the upper hand? He chased after her, slashing various monsters that tried to get in his way. He kept her in sight as she reached the forest edge, but no one was stopping her and there were now two Cyclops blocking his path.

"Look guys, I'm kinda in the middle of something, so if you wouldn't mind stepping aside, that would be great." He smiled with every last ounce of his Grecian charm.

The two Cyclops looked at each other and frowned before the larger of the two took turned back with a punch that Percy only just managed to avoid.

"Or stick around." He said bashing the tall one in the head with the butt of his sword. "That works too."

The smaller cyclops growled and charged toward him. Percy slashed at its legs as it reached him and spun behind it to drive his sword into its chest. He stepped toward the larger one, who was just about to get up off the floor when Riptide swung down on it neck turning it to dust.

When he looked back to the tree line, the Empousa was nowhere to be seen. He swore under his breath. Wiping his brow he turned to see the scene behind him. Jason was fighting the kraken from the sky and had managed to blind it, while Hazel was riding a hippocampus that was most likely Frank and attacking it from the bottom. Between the three of them they were certainly tiring the beast out.

He saw Piper and Emma together making their way over to Rory, slicing through any monsters who got in their way, but there were not many left. Some were even retreating into the trees and running. He joined Annabeth on the shoreline cutting through the last of the army of monsters that had been plaguing them. He knew it was time to go, they couldn't beat the kraken without the help of the gods and he knew they were long passed caring.

* * *

Rory's chest filled with a painful tightness as Emma's knees sunk into the sand in front of him. Once he saw her move toward him he had been on his feet and running to her. Her breath was heavy and her eyes drooped. She looked ill. She lifted her head and swayed as if her world was moving.

"Emma." He breathed but she showed no sign of hearing him.

She offered up her dagger, holding it firmly in her shaking, white knuckled hand. He ran the ropes that tied his wrists over it until they fell to the ground. He raised his hand to hold her steady.

"Emma, can you hear me?" He said, desperate for some response. Two weeks ago he didn't know this girl. Didn't know about her life, her struggles. Now if she died, he didn't know what he would do. This girl who saw him as the arrogant jock he always hidden behind, who didn't want anything to do with him, had almost died to save him. He wasn't used to people caring about him.

"Hey!" Rory snapped his head up to look at the girl with brown braided hair who had been standing over them, "Make her eat some of this, only a little."

The girl reached into a small bag that was strapped around her waist as if they were at a freaking festival and not a battle against an ancient monsters army. She pulled out a small packet and chucked it at him before spinning around to slice through a monster before he could even process what it was.

He wanted to question her, he had never liked being told what to do without explanation, but the girl had barely had the time to get it out before needing to get back to saving their lives. He broke off a small piece of the square and held it to her lips.

"This will make you feel better." He said weekly, knowing full well how robotic he sounded, but he didn't know what it was or what it would do. She nodded gently as he raised his hand to her lips.

As soon as she swallowed her eyes opened and she held herself upright, as if she hadn't almost died ten minutes ago. When her lips parted he thought she would ask what happened or say his name or act confused, but instead she looked at him with a straight face and said,

"Well that's the weirdest apple crumble I've ever eaten."

Her voice sounded completely normal and the bruises on her neck started to fade. In a state of shock he looked down at the packet in his hand and saw that it definitely was _not_ an apple crumble.

"Ambrosia, food of the gods. Tastes like a fond memory." The girl with the braid shouted back at them. "Heals Demigods. Kills mortals."

Rory dropped it like a hot coal and Emma laughed, she _laughed,_ and picked it back up before stuffing it in her pocket.

"So you're just fine now?" He managed to blurt out as he gawked at her, "Choked to death by a super sized octopus, barely able to walk, but you have a bite of food and now you're all glowing like you've had the best night sleep of your life?"

"You got kidnapped by a girl with a donkeys leg and flaming hair and the thing you're not believing is a magic healing food?" Emma said raising an eyebrow, "I've not seen it before either, but nothing surprises me anymore."

She moved to stand between him and the fray of monsters and demigods. He hated feeling like the dead weight, the one that needed protecting, but he wasn't stupid enough to try and prove he wasn't. There were barely any monsters left now, with most of the others focused on the monster in the lake. He saw Jackson and Annabeth split, with her running toward the lake and him toward them.

"We need to move," Jackson shouted, "Get back to the jet!"

Rory screwed his face up in confusion wondering where on earth Jackson got a jet from.

"What about the kraken?" Emma shouted back, still poised for a fight.

"We don't know how to beat it and as far as we know, it can't leave the water." Jackson responded catching his breath.

"Won't the others follow us?" said the other girl.

"They've already begun to retreat. Whatever they wanted," Jackson paused looking directly at Rory with a defeated look on his face, "they got it."

* * *

Once on the aircraft, all Emma could think about was getting something to drink. Between the water healing her and the ambrosia, she was feeling a lot better, but that didn't change the fact that she almost died and was still feeling rather drained. The thought made her pause for a minute. It's not that she hadn't almost died before, every skirmish with a monster felt like a brush with death. It was the realisation that he could get to her. That Bahram was no longer just a nightmare or a whisper among monsters. He had an army and he was going to rise. She tried to shake the cold feeling that started to creep under her skin.

She decided to distract herself by raiding the minibar for something cold and hydrating. She had never been a fan of soda, so settled on a bottle of juice. She gulped it down hurriedly as the other demigods tried to piece together what had just happened.

"Let's just talk it through." Annabeth suggested, ever the logical one. She was leaning back on a table with Percy sitting on the chair closest while Frank and Hazel had retreated to a pair of seats just across from where Emma stood.

"Shouldn't we just get moving?" Frank asked. It seemed almost strange to see him in his human form.

"I'm not flying anywhere," Rory interjected. He couldn't be sat further from where she was, it made her a little uneasy. "I need to get back to my mom's."

"We're not going anywhere until we work out what just happened and what our next moves are." Annabeth said.

"What is there to work out?" Said the blonde boy, what was his name, Jason? "We turned up, fought some monsters, Little Jackson basically got killed by the kraken and then they started retreating."

Emma bristled at the nickname. She hadn't wanted a brother in the first place and now she was being duped as _little Jackson._

"You know we don't have the same mum, right?" Emma stated narrowing her eyes. "We're related on the other side. We have different surnames."

"Why would they retreat before the ritual was completed?" Annabeth said, ignoring Emma and pacing back and forth across the narrow cabin. "Even if she somehow managed to already have oracle tears in that vile, she would have needed to pour them into the lake and then drain Rory of his blood."

"Can we be a little less indifferent to my proposed murder?" Rory said with a smile so filled with bitter amusement it made Emma burst out with a short laugh. "Besides the vile was empty."

Suddenly everyone's eyes were on him as his fell to the floor. It was interesting to her that he was so shy in front of them when he was so loud at school.

"Did she take your blood?" Piper asked.

"No, Bahram needs to drain the mortal of blood." Annabeth countered without giving Rory a chance to speak. Emma rolled her eyes.

"That story could be wrong for all we know." Jason fired back.

"But then he could have chosen any mortal." Annabeth crossed her arms. "Why McKenzie? Why go through the effort of kidnapping him if not to finish the ritual?"

"Surely they would need the lake to not be filled with a kraken to finish the ritual anyway?" Percy said.

"Exactly so why engage at all. Why expose part of his army to us, it makes no sense!" Annabeth fumed.

Emma wondered how this lot managed to save the world if they never listened to anyone. She locked eyes with Hazel and Frank as Percy, Annabeth and Jason shot ideas back and forth. The two younger fighters seemed to agree with her, though they didn't vocalise their opinion. Their introverted nature added a strange dynamic to the group. Emma sighed and went back to raiding the minibar.

"Maybe they were trying to bring us out into the open-"

"She didn't take my blood." Rory finally interrupted, snapping Emma out of her mission for food. He looked so vulnerable, shoulders slumped and his eye still swollen shut. He didn't want to say what he was about to, she could tell that much. Pride was holding him back, yet he looked right at her as he let the words fall out of his mouth. "She took my tears."


End file.
